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Thank you all!
//\( •̀ ω •́ )/\\ I am running out of line break ideas. (AGAIN)
"Alright, Sasuke." His brother said, holding out an armful of large round discs. "Hide these nearby, but make sure they're out of sight."
"Kay." Sasuke said in reply, reaching out and taking as many of the large discs he could fit into his growing arms. Sasuke looked around the area they were in, the woods behind the Uchiha clan were always a favourite place of his to play around in. It was also where he practiced his Shuriken Jutsu in secret.
Sasuke turned to his older brother with an accusing frown, "You're not going to look, are you?"
His brother chuckled. "I won't look."
With his brother's words, Sasuke grinned and ran past Itachi. He looked at the bolder in the middle of the area and grinned to himself. He placed seven of the targets as high as he could climb on the thick, mossy trees and placed the final double-circled target behind the large stone. Sasuke grinned to himself. No matter how good his big brother was with Kunai and Shuriken, there was no way he would be able to get them all.
"All right, Big Brother." Sasuke said from his place behind one of the trees.
Sasuke watched as his brother slipped several Kunai between his fingers and launched himself into the air. Itachi rapidly spun mid-air until he was upside down. The older boy loosed two Kunai into the air, quickly followed by another three, he switched a kunai between his hands and set flight to the final three. Sasuke couldn't follow all of the Kunai at once, but he did see how two of the black blades collided with each other in a sharp flicker of light.
Sasuke stared in disbelief as the blades all sank into the centre of the targets and his brother landed as gracefully as a cat on the ground with blazing red eyes.
"Wow! You even nailed the target in the blind spot behind the rock!" Sasuke was giddy with excitement and he wanted so bad to learn how to do that. How to become as amazing as his Brother. Sasuke clutched at his own pair of Kunai, one in each hand, "All right, my turn!" He declared.
"Sasuke, we have to go."
His brother's words interrupted his excitement. Sasuke turned to Itachi feeling annoyed, "You promised to teach me a new Shuriken technique." He glared at his older brother.
"I've got a kind of important mission tomorrow. I have to get ready." Itachi said.
Sasuke turned away. How long did it take to get ready for a mission, what type of mission would take an entire afternoon and morning to prepare for? Sasuke pouted to himself, sometimes his brother said things that just didn't make any sense.
"You're a liar, Itachi." Sasuke accused and turned his head to the ground, his eyes peered sideways at his brother.
Itachi waved him over. Sasuke felt his negative emotions melt away and couldn't help the small grin that twitched across his face. Sasuke turned and ran over to Itachi, "Sorry Sasuke, maybe next time."
His brother raised his first two fingers and jabbed them at Sasuke's still moving forehead.
"Ow!" Sasuke complained, his approach halted having run straight into his brother's jab. Sasuke rubbed at the lightly stinging spot and frowned at Itachi. An idea passed through him and Sasuke's frown morphed easily into a scheming grin.
Sasuke whirled around, the two Kunai firmly in hand, "Check this out!"
"Hey, you're going to hurt yourself-"
Sasuke paid no mind to his brother's voice when the older boy began to speak. His foot snagged on something – definitely not his other foot – and Sasuke tumbled to the ground. With his hands full of the two Kunai, Sasuke decided in the second it took for him to fall, that it was much safer to not use his blade filled hands to break the fall. It was a perfect landing on his face.
Sasuke pushed himself up from the ground and winced as he tried to move his foot.
"It's sprained." His brother was already there beside him, looking at his ankle. Itachi sighed, turned around and held his hands out from behind him. "Come on, we should go home and put some ice on it."
Sasuke, feeling embarrassed, tucked away his pair of Kunai and wrapped his arms around Itachi's shoulders as Itachi hoisted them from off of the ground. Sasuke sat comfortably in the piggyback ride home, out of the forest and into the streets beside the Uchiha compound.
The journey was slow and quiet as the sun set over the village.
They passed a familiar building and Sasuke couldn't help but frown at the insignia. Itachi paused in his steps and turned to Sasuke, "What's wrong?" he asked.
Sasuke didn't know how his brother was always able to tell when he was troubled, but that was just another thing Sasuke found amazing about Itachi, he was always doing what Sasuke thought was impossible. Always setting a new bar that Sasuke desperately wanted to surpass.
"This is where Father works?" Sasuke asked, he had been to this building a few times on the rare occasion that Father had left his bento at home and his mother was too busy to drop it off herself.
"Konoha Military Police Force headquarters." His older brother stated. Looking towards the tall concrete building.
"This has been bothering me for a while," Sasuke began, staring up at the four-pointed star with the Uchiha clan's image in the center, "Why is the Uchiha clan's crest in the Military Police Force's symbol?"
"So you noticed that, huh?"
Sasuke felt a surge of pride flow through him and he straightened his back, "Of course!"
"Right. Well, basically, our Uchiha ancestors organized and founded the Military Police Force. That's why they integrated the Uchiha crest into the symbol for the organization. The Uchiha clan has handled and maintained public order in the village for a long time. The crest is proof of our proud history." Sasuke listened silently as Itachi carefully explained. "Right now, the Uchiha clan is smaller, but even now, basically all of us belong to the first squadron here, and contribute to maintaining public order in the village."
Itachi paused in his explanation and gave a small sideways smile, "The only ones capable of cracking down on Ninja crime are even greater Ninja."
"Are you going to join too, Itachi?" Sasuke asked, Itachi was the greatest Ninja he knew after all.
Itachi went silent in thought for a moment before shrugging and carrying on down the path, "Dunno. We'll have to see." He replied.
"Do it!" Sasuke urged, "When I grow up, I'm gonna join the Military police force, too!"
When they walked through the gates of the Uchiha compound, Father appeared before them. "You're late. What were you up to? I want to talk to you." His Father spoke to Itachi. It was always Itachi in Father's eyes, Sasuke frowned. Father didn't comment on his sprained ankle. Even being scolded is better than being ignored, Sasuke decided.
"Let's get home." Father ordered.
"Yes, Father."
Sasuke stared at the back of Itachi's head, wishing he could see what type of expression his brother had. Itachi's voice had turned stone cold and emotionless for the reply. It sent a feeling of unease into his gut.
Sasuke sat quietly the rest of the short ride home.
He sat quietly in the room as Father and Brother argued over Itachi's important mission.
He sat quietly as he listened as Itachi declared that he would abandon his mission to come to Sasuke's second term Opening Ceremony at the academy.
Watching as his Father gave up the argument, offering to attend in Itachi's place so that Itachi would complete his mission.
The cold and angry glint in Itachi's eyes made Sasuke worry.
//\( •̀ ω •́ )/\\ I am running out of line break ideas.
"That my assassins would be the two Uchiha prodigies, at the height of their popularity, is truly the greatest honor." Kohinata Mukai said, pulling out a portable ashtray from the depths of his pocket and tossing away a half-smoked cigarette. He sealed the silver cap of his bottle that smelled faintly of sake before stashing both objects into one of the many pockets of his vest.
Shisui watched the man from a safe distance, beside him stood a shadow clone of Itachi. The real Itachi had slipped away in the small seconds during the fight against a platoon of Shinobi from the Hidden Mist. Not a single Mist ninja was spared, more than a dozen bodies littered the ground, unmoving.
Shisui was no sensor Ninja but he could tell when Mukai released the shadow clones he had back in the village. Itachi's own chakra spiked in response, likely dispelling his own clone that had been watching the clone of Kohinata Mukai.
"Now that my son knows the Dad he was just talking to 'till just a minute ago wasn't the real one, my son's probably angry." Mukai sent them a glare as he scratched at his head. "Now I'll have to come up with some kind of excuse when I get home."
Mukai shifted positions, his hips dropped and his hands raised with palms out in a similar stance to the Gentle Fist. The style of the Hyuga clan.
The Kohinata were descended from the Hyuga clan but they had split off long ago. Just because the Kohinata had split off from the bloodline, that didn't mean their descendants couldn't have the Dojutsu of the Hyuga. As long as the blood flowed through their veins, the name didn't matter to a Kekkai Genkai.
"Why would a Ninja as good as you be a spy?" The clone of Itachi stood beside him asked.
A spy. If they succeeded today, that was what Itachi would become. Likely, the idea of it had been weighing on the younger boy's heart.
"When you get old, things happen. You can't understand what those things are until you get some years on you. So even if I did tell you why, you'd only get half of it." Shisui listened, it sounded like the situation had been going on for quite some time and had gotten complicated and out of control somewhere down the line.
"If you die here, what happens to your son in the Hospital?" Itachi spat. It was only a clone of Itachi but these were still the boy's thoughts and feelings. Itachi was angry. Shisui wondered what it was that had angered the boy. Was it the fact that Mukai had acted regardless of his son's needs? Was Itachi relating between Mukai and Fugaku?
"Because of those things I mentioned," Mukai said in a low voice, "I can't be dying here. Even if you guys were to kill me." The veins around Mukai's pale left eye throbbed into sight.
"Byakugan!" Itachi's clone shouted in warning.
Shisui reacted on instinct, jumping back to avoid being in the reach of the dangerous close-ranged technique.
Itachi's clone hadn't moved quickly enough, Mukai stood just in front of the clone. His first two fingers acted as good as any blade, one hand in Itachi's throat and the other buried in his gut.
Itachi's clone burst into a flock of crows that dipped and dived, dark wings slapping too close and hard beaks stabbing at their opponent.
Shisui's hands flickered through hand seals rapidly, using the crows as cover. Mukai turned his head over to Shisui, unbothered by the birds.
The giant fireball rippled out into the bleak, stony area. Landing in what should have been a direct hit. The giant fireball was split in two. Shisui was both annoyed and impressed.
"Gentle fist cuts off enemy chakra. Using it means being very familiar with the flow. Jutsu are the embodiment of chakra. If you can read the flow, it's not so tough to split." Mukai said after gaging the frown that Shisui let slip. The information was tucked away in his mind. Mukai charged towards Shisui, rapidly closing the distance.
Shisui prepared himself, mentally and physically. This was not a good situation to be in at all. The Gentle Fist technique went above and beyond in terms of physical attack. The application of chakra in their strikes could wound a person from the inside. Going up against a user of the Gentle fist in close combat was just stupid.
But, unfortunately, it was necessary.
The deciding factor of this fight couldn't be a close-ranged attack. It was near impossible for the Uchiha pair, neither of them was skilled enough to drive a Shinobi like Mukai into a corner with Taijutsu alone.
No. This fight needed to be finished from a distance.
The only advantage Shisui and Itachi had was their own Dojutsu. The Sharingan. But first, they needed to catch Mukai's line of sight with their own. Against any other Ninja, this wouldn't be so difficult, it was a subconscious effort to create eye contact. Most made eye contact without realizing it. Mukai was aware of this fact, and that is what made it so difficult. Mukai had no need using his eyes when the Byakugan let him 'see' the flow of chakra around him.
Difficult, but not impossible.
All they needed to do was create a situation where Mukai's visual axis aligned with one of theirs.
Itachi sat tactically hidden, awaiting that single moment where the situation was crafted exactly for that. To do that, Shisui needed to get up in Mukai's face in this fight. A stupidly dangerous place to be.
Shisui was barely scraping by in this battle, his speed was his saving grace against the man's experience and bloodline. Shisui could only dodge and counter smartly as Mukai attacked after him in powerful thrusts of his hand. Shisui threw his torso back to dodge a crippling blow to his solar plexus, unwillingly giving the man an opening in his nimble defence.
Left with no other choice, Shisui jumped back in retreat. In the time it took for Shisui to land, Mukai turned and looked off to his left where Itachi waited.
The instant Shisui realized Itachi had been discovered, he pushed the chakra to circulate in his eyes and the world sharpened and warped. Mukai almost met his gaze before snapping it away, sensing the change in his chakra. Mukai suddenly launched off in an incredible leap, stepping from one rock to propel himself off of another. Mukai was headed for Itachi.
The next moment, Shisui rippled his chakra throughout his body and kicked off from the stony ground, chasing after their opponent. In a flicker, Shisui appeared behind Mukai in the single point of his blind spot and swivelled his body mid-air. Shisui's kick landed solidly against Mukai's skull, sending the man's head into the wall in what should have been a head-shattering collision. The log crashing against the solid rock had both Shisui and Itachi widening their eyes. Mukai was fast.
"Shadow clone!" Itachi called out. Shisui whirled around and ducked out of the way of a blow aimed at his throat and sent a quick, driving knee into Mukai's gut. Mukai exploded into smokey chakra.
Shisui whirled around, his eyes landed on the real Mukai, powering his open palms into Itachi's stomach.
"Eight Trigrams Eight Palms!" Mukai rapidly struck at Itachi. Shisui vaulted himself into the air and aimed a flying kick into Mukai's blind spot once again. Mukai moved. Sweeping shortly to the side, Mukai avoided the attack.
The older man's arm shot out and wrapped around Shisui's throat. Mukai's grip was tight as it clutched around his windpipe.
Itachi was still recovering from the Gentle Fist's attack, Shisui glared hotly at Mukai with his Sharingan spinning. He silently dared the man to meet his eye, to give him an opening. Mukai did not.
With the hand still wrapped around his throat, Mukai lifted Shisui from the ground. "There's this thing called 'training' that you do to overcome your weak points." Mukai taunted, "The first step in my training was to compensate for the Byakugan's blind spot in one eye, with physical Jutsu. Don't underestimate this old man, brats."
"Kohinata Mukai." Itachi wheezed, taking a step forward. His body must have been rippling with pain at the aftermath of the Gentle Fist. Shisui considered them lucky to have been able to stop the attack before it could reach its full power.
"What? You want me to kill him?" Mukai asked. Itachi's chakra was disrupted, there was effectively nothing that Itachi could do to counterattack. Shisui gripped at Mukai's hand, nails digging in to try and pry the hand away. Itachi continued forward.
"Then I'll put him out of his misery, as you requested!" The hand around his throat tightened significantly forcing a choked sound from Shisui.
"Stop!" Itachi demanded, his Sharingan glistened with fury.
"There's no way that sort of obvious Genjutsu is going to work on me." Mukai turned away from Itachi's Sharingan despite his words. Shisui forced the chakra from his eyes to amplify in itself, he could feel the power behind his eyes. The whispering promise of power that surged through his eyes and down his spine was gloriously terrifying.
Shisui cast the Genjutsu faster than he'd ever done in his entire life, the smallest instant he would say was nothing more than a thousandth of a second. But it was enough for Shisui to create that foothold in the depths of Mukai's mind. This fight no longer in Mukai's advantage. The hand was gone from his throat and buried itself into a pocket at Mukai's waist. The black metal of the blade caught in the low light in a glittering warning, but the blade turned in.
Shisui realized too late, as Mukai dragged the black steel blade across his own stomach. "Mukai!" Shisui yelled, neither of the boys had really wanted Mukai dead, he didn't need to die. The man collapsed to the ground in a spray of blood. "Hold on, Mukai!" Shisui said, dropping to his knees beside the older man. Shisui lifted Mukai's head lightly of the ground, cradling it in a light hold.
"I'm a spy for another village… Any interference with my brain, and a Jutsu that makes me end my own life is executed."
So that's what happened, Shisui thought.
"You can't save me." Mukai heaved a blood-soaked cough from his lungs. "I've never seen anyone caught in a Genjutsu in that short a time before… What the hell was that?"
Shisui didn't answer, even a dead man could still slip information.
"Uchiha secret Jutsu, huh?" Mukai understood, not taking any offence to Shisui's silence. But Mukai's words still made him falter.
"Do you have anything you want to say?" Itachi said quietly.
Mukai's eyes shifted to Itachi. "S-so this is where we're at…" Mukai cleared his throat and coughed harshly again. "I did what I did on my own. My wife and kid had nothing to do with it."
"So you're saying that the crime of treason was yours alone?"
"Totally selfish, but, well…" Mukai's unsteady hand rose from the dirt and reached for his pocket. Itachi pushed Mukai's quaking fingers away and pulled out the small package. The cigarette was given to the man.
"L-Light." Mukai asked.
Shisui pulled the lighter from Mukai's pocket and held the flame. With a deep breath, Mukai pulled the smoke to the deepest pits of his lungs. He exhaled in a breath of grey. At the end of his breath, he pulled in another drag. "This is how a ninja dies, you know? I'll be seeing you over there…"
The strength left Mukai's body, his hand fell to the ground with the cigarette still burning between his cooling fingers.
Shisui sat there for a moment. "It's over." Shisui said, fatigue settled in his body as the adrenaline wore off.
Itachi nodded, the boy's eyes shifted from Mukai's body to Shisui. "That Sharingan…" Itachi asked.
Shisui knew Itachi had seen it, knew that the younger boy would question it. Shisui wanted to tell Itachi. But not today, not yet.
"Will you keep quiet about it to the guys in the village?" Shisui asked, not yet able to tear his eyes away from Mukai's corpse. The man shouldn't have met the fate he did.
"Yeah." Itachi murmured in response.
"The Mangekyo Sharingan." Shisui pushed the chakra in his eyes to bloom, catching Itachi's undivided attention, "When the time comes, I'll tell you – just you – everything."
"Just me?" Itachi asked hesitantly. Shisui knew what Itachi was really asking.
"I don't think this is something Kyoko needs to know of just yet." Itachi wouldn't meet his gaze, "But I'll leave that decision to you, once I've told you everything." Shisui grinned at Itachi with all the energy he could muster. Itachi nodded, the boy's inky black eyes turned skyward.
The resigned look in Itachi's eye told Shisui that it was time to go home. Shisui couldn't help but notice how old Itachi looked, the wisdom in Itachi's eyes had always spoke of years the boy hadn't yet had. But today seemed to add so much more. Setting a hand on Itachi's shoulder, Shisui stood from the ground. "Let's go."
//\( •̀ ω •́ )/\\ I am running out of line break ideas.
"A new member will be joining your team." The Third Hokage said.
"Is it the one we talked about?" Kakashi inquired, preparing himself to be thrust upon maintaining a finicky situation.
"Yes, he is extremely capable."
True, the boy was said to be capable, "But he is young."
"He is not the youngest that has been entrusted to you…" Lord third commented. "Danzo has recommended that he is to gain more experience. And Kakashi… Keep the Spider out of Danzo's reach."
Kakashi watched from the trees above as Kunai and Shuriken were loosed from Ko's grip. Aimed for the newest member of Anbu. The targeted boy kept walking forward despite the blades being tossed in his direction. With minimal, last second adjustments, Uchiha Itachi avoided them all.
Itachi stopped as a Shuriken passed marginally in front of the weasel mask he wore.
Kakashi could feel the tension in the air coming from the newly arranged Team Ro.
"What are you doing?" Kakashi flickered to stand a little behind the newest member of Anbu. Tenzo, his trusted second hand and comrade followed, appearing along-side him. "Explain yourselves." Kakashi demanded to Ko and the others who stood in the grounds.
"We wanted to be sure he had the skills to be one of us." Sumire said. Seated on top of the furthest of the three training logs driven deep into the ground. The reddish-orange fish-like mask was a familiar sight among the few new masks.
"Since he is too young." Ko added from behind the dual purple striped reptilian mask, Kakashi could feel a small amount of animosity. This wouldn't do any favors to the team, Kakashi pondered.
Through the thin slits of his own dog-like mask, Kakashi's Sharingan narrowed, uncovered. "Do you have a problem with the decisions of your superiors?"
They all turned away from Kakashi's challenging stare. "No, it's not like that…" Came from the left, a dog motif mask complete with pointed ears and three, thick stripes with two along either sides of his cheek and one on his forehead. One of the new members of the squad. One that Danzo had generously offered to Team Ro. Torune Aburame.
"Haven't you already sensed that he isn't ordinary?" Kakashi scolded, they were supposed to be the elite of the elite. Acting in this manner was appalling.
Kakashi passed a quick look over his team. Tenzo in his cat mask, Sumire the carp, Ko the reptilian, Tonu the bear and Kyoko the spider was all that remained of the previous squad. Kakashi had lost three members, one dead and the other two were restationed into a reformed Team Ri. He now has two new members to integrate. One from Root and the other an Uchiha.
Joy.
Kakashi stepped up to Itachi and turned to the boy. "I'm Kakashi, Captain of Team Ro." He introduced himself, "You're new, but I want you to learn all of the ANBU rules and formations quickly."
"Yes, sir." Itachi replied.
"I'll help with that." The light voice sounded behind them. Kakashi turned to see a mask with a fanged mouth outline and five purple, almond shaped eye-like markings. The spider of the group stood next to a tense looking Tenzo.
The girl's stealth was refined beyond impressive.
"I'll leave that to you then, Kyoko." Kakashi didn't miss the slight movement of Itachi's head at the name. The Hokage had mentioned that the two of them had been in the same class together in the academy and that they worked well enough solo and together, but Kakashi had a feeling he had only been given part of the story. As usual.
"It looks like the Hokage's judgment isn't enough to reassure them," Kakashi began in a sardonic voice, "If you could give a small demonstration of your abilities, maybe that'll put their nerves at ease."
The single red triangle that went down the forehead of the weasel mask dipped in movement as Itachi nodded. "If nine targets could be set up close behind?" Itachi requested.
Kakashi nodded to Tenzo and his second hand quickly set the nine targets in the trees, all at differing heights. When given the signal, Itachi launched himself into the air. The boy spun upside down and in quick rotations. Five Kunai were released, Kakashi watched casually with his lone Sharingan eye, only one knife would reach its intended target. Itachi flicked another four kunai, eight knives collided perfectly and bounced off in different directions in a clear ringing of metal against metal. Itachi landed fluidly as each and every Kunai landed solidly in the dead center of the targets.
"He is talented, but making an exception for someone so young is rather unusual for Anbu." Tenzo said quietly to Kakashi.
Tenzo and Kakashi stood opposite from the rest of the squad. Watching the minute movements in their muscles, analyzing their response from the smallest of hints. Five stood watching after Itachi in slight stillness, acknowledging the boy's talent with the Kunai.
"He was recommended by Lord Danzo… Let's hope they stop at two." Kakashi responded. The spider mask strode over to Itachi. Intrigued, Kakashi watched, taking the opportunity to observe the interaction between the youngest members Anbu had ever seen.
"Nice." Kyoko said. The spider stood in front of Itachi who stared up at the targets and hummed in reply. Kyoko clicked her teeth and lightly punched at the boy's shoulder, "Don't worry too much about it."
The weasel mask turned to her, "It bothers me."
"Then do something about it."
"Hn." The boy looked away.
"Or you can just leave it." Kakashi could hear the grin in her voice.
Itachi turned to her again. Kyoko raised her fist again and held it out in the space between them, "We're a team now."
Itachi bumped his fist against hers, "Nn."
"But man, I really wanted to stay ahead of you." Kyoko whined.
"I can't let you."
"Let me?"
Tenzo rested a hand on his hip, "Looks like they're already acquainted."
Kakashi couldn't tear his eyes away from the arguing pair. From this small interaction, Kakashi could tell that they were more than acquainted. Kyoko could communicate with Itachi despite some of the odd quirks that often hindered a young Uchiha's social interactions. She seemed to understand Itachi in a way that was painfully similar to how Rin and himself had been able to figure out Obito's little gestures and grunts.
Not to mention, Kakashi hadn't been able to follow their conversation at all. He wondered, how in synch would they be on a mission and in battle. Had the Hokage given the both of them to him for a reason?
Kakashi scolded himself. The state of the situation was too delicate to be handed to anyone that didn't have the varied experience Kakashi had.
Kakashi looked away from the squabbling pair and up to the other dog-masked subordinate, especially since Danzo had a lot of interest in Itachi. Kakashi had butted heads with the Foundation often, had even managed to have Tenzo change loyalties from the Foundation into the Hokage's Anbu. They had the knowledge to maneuver around Danzo for a while.
//\( •̀ ω •́ )/\\ I am running out of line break ideas.
"You're out of it, Itachi." Kyoko said from beside him. They had just finished up a mission and had left the headquarters, he should probably be heading home judging from the darkening sky. Itachi hadn't made any move to turn for the Uchiha compound, nor had Kyoko left for her home. Naturally, without a single exchange of words, they carried on strolling through the village.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
Maybe he had been a bit out of focus this morning and after the mission - he wouldn't let trivial thoughts distract him on important missions. Or maybe Kyoko was simply good at picking up on his moods. They'd been friends for seven years now, there were things that only Shisui and Kyoko would ever know about him, the reverse was true for all three of them.
"I met with Izumi yesterday." Itachi started.
Kyoko pressed tightly down on her left forearm with an analyzing gaze, she must have lightly injured it using her blade during the mission. Kyoko turned her attention to him, "How is Izu-chan? I haven't been able to visit her for a while… She graduated, didn't she?"
"Nn. A year early."
Kyoko smiled softly, "It's a bit weird, but I'm proud of her."
Itachi said nothing in response, he didn't need to. Kyoko flexed her hand in and out of a fist before dropping the appendage at her side, "So?" She asked.
Itachi remembered back to the last two times he had hung out with Izumi. Recently in the small park of the Uchiha district and then in the café months before that. In the café, it had ended with Izumi getting upset and leaving.
'Walking down the same path as the person you like… Maybe I shouldn't want that.'
He understood what she meant when she had said those words but Itachi felt, as a shinobi, that he didn't have the emotional leeway to take her seriously.
"Izumi may have implied that she liked me." Itachi voiced hesitantly.
Kyoko blinked at him before bursting into loud bouts of childish laughter, "Most of the girls in the academy liked you."
Itachi frowned, "They didn't like me. They liked the image they created of me in their heads, lost in their own form of reality."
Kyoko scoffed, "Everybody may have a different image of you, but does that mean they're wrong? They're probably just missing parts of the picture, that's why getting to know a person is fun."
"They never tried to get to know me."
"Yeah, and they've probably moved on by now."
"But it isn't me Izumi likes, it's the idea of the strength that 'Uchiha Itachi' represents to her."
"So?" Kyoko turned an accusing stare onto him, "Does that make her feelings any less genuine?"
Itachi decided not to answer, he didn't know the answer. Instead, he settled for, "People live inside their own illusions."
The cold glare he received turned blood to ice in his skin. Kyoko refused to break her gaze first so Itachi turned away. "Then, does that mean my feelings are an illusion, too?"
His eyes snapped up to her, his disbelief gave him an ignorant courage against her furious stare.
What?
"You're running away by refusing to acknowledge Izu-chan… It isn't like you to delude yourself like this, Itachi." Kyoko turned around and began to make her way down the street. "I should be going home."
"Kyoko-"
"We have another mission tomorrow. So get some rest." Kyoko didn't turn back, one sure foot after another carried her away.
Itachi considered himself balanced; half shinobi, half human. But perhaps this equilibrium had left an imbalance somewhere in his heart. Still, he could be misunderstanding. Jumping to conclusions. The facts were there, in broad daylight, with Izumi. It was hard to miss. But Kyoko?
Somehow, it didn't bother him as much as it should have, and that sent the alarm bells ringing in his head.
Kyoko was right though. Izumi's feelings weren't any less genuine just because she viewed him in a different light. Itachi simply didn't know how to respond to them so he pushed it aside.
Sighing, Itachi continued forward at a slow pace, headed for the Uchiha compound.
He hadn't wanted to return home. Not yet.
"Welcome back, Itachi."
"Big brother!"
It was like every negative emotion melted from him like cold wax to a flame. "I'm back, Mother. How were classes today, Sasuke?"
Sasuke grinned up at him, his little brother's innocence was his driving force, his hope, the flame in the dark.
"Why don't you go wash up and join us for dinner, Itachi."
Itachi nodded and pried his brother's fingers gently from his shirt. Sasuke grinned, "Mom made Sukiyaki!"
"Oh?" Itachi turned a questioning gaze to their Mother. She smiled gently, "Sasuke got the top score in his class. He specifically asked to have Sukiyaki for dinner tonight."
"Top score?" Itachi looked down to a haughty looking Sasuke almost bursting with pride, "Keep it up."
"Yeah, I will!" Sasuke grinned and ran back to the table but he stared at Itachi with an expectant look gleaming in his deep black eyes.
Itachi chuckled to himself, heading to his room to change out of his uniform and have a quick shower. Itachi soon joined his Mother and Brother at the table, "Is Father still at work?" He asked.
"Yes, he managed to come back for lunch, but he probably won't be back until later in the night." Mother replied. Itachi held back the sigh of relief.
Itachi said nothing, picking up the bowl she dished for him and savoring the scent of a home-cooked meal. Itachi was thankful that his father wasn't home, the tension might have been a bit too much on a day like today and Itachi really didn't need to start skipping meals because he was stressed by his own Father.
Sasuke quickly ate the remainder of his dinner with gusto, when the smaller sized bowl was set loudly on the table, Sasuke turned to Itachi with a begging look on his face. "Will you show me a new Shuriken Jutsu?" The seven-year-old asked.
"Sasuke, your brother just got home, let him relax a little. Besides it's too late out to practice Shuriken." Their mother scolded.
Sasuke pouted and turned away, "It's not practice, it's training."
Itachi chuckled as their mother sighed lightly, "Why don't you make a start on your homework?" She said.
"Kay…" Sasuke said somberly and plodded out the kitchen, dragging his feet as he went.
Itachi slowly picked at the vegetables in his bowl, appreciating their varying flavours and the soft texture of the warm rice.
"Is something wrong, Itachi?" Itachi blinked in surprise and met his mother's worried gaze. He was sure that he had kept his expression neutral. Why was he so easy to read today?
"I'm your Mother, Itachi. I can tell when you're not feeling well."
Itachi gave up trying to figure it out, "It's nothing, Mother."
"Something you can't talk about?" She asked.
He quietly continued slowly eating his rice, even though he was famished and wanted to demolish his dinner with the same enthusiasm that Sasuke had.
"Something you don't want to talk about, then."
Itachi wished that his mother would stop this outrageous interrogation. She regarded him with the same deep black eyes that Sasuke had inherited.
"Troubles with a friend?"
Itachi sighed.
"A girl?"
"Mother, please." Came his defeated reply, begging her to stop in picking apart his problems. His mother laughed lightly.
"Oh, alright."
The silence lingered as he pushed around the rice in the bottom of his bowl. Itachi sighed, putting aside the rice and grabbing the other dish of meat, vegetables and broth. The bowl was emptied in the next few minutes and refilled for the third time.
The golden oils of the ingredients moved like a liquid sheet over the flavored broth that enveloped the beef and the variety of vegetables. His thoughts of his emotions clouded his vision, dark eyes only catching shifting light over the oils.
Itachi dragged his eyes up to his mother who sat on the other side of the table. The midnight black of her eyes lacked the grey tones that Itachi had inherited from his father. Somehow, they felt warmer, deeper.
She watched him with a quiet, patient smile.
"Did you love Father? At first?" Itachi asked. There was a lot that Itachi didn't know about his parents. He never had the time or the reason to ask.
His mother blinked her long, dark eyelashes in surprise. A feature that both Sasuke and himself had inherited from her. "Like all things, emotions take time, Itachi." His mother offered her wisdom before sitting back and a glazed look of thought passed across her eyes.
"Back in those times, I was Chunin when I first actually talked to your Father. It was just small things, casual greetings turned into small smiles. At the time, Fugaku was engaged in an arranged marriage." Itachi silently listened to his mother's story, "I was sent out on a mission, one day, with the rest of my team and we were caught up in a very diplomatic situation that eventually spiralled out of control. I was fighting a losing battle, but I was saved by none other than Wicked-Eye Fugaku. It was hard not to fall for him after that." His mother chuckled lightly.
"But Father was already engaged?"
Mikoto nodded, dark strands of hair shifting slightly. "Yes. But the more we worked together and talked to each other, the more certain feelings began to develop. The arranged marriage was cancelled without much fuss by your Father's request and Fugaku and I were married the next spring."
"He canceled it? And the elders of the clan let him?" Itachi asked.
"An arranged marriage can be annulled if love comes into the equation. This is one of the few Clan Laws that we have." His mother stated.
Clan laws were obscure and only ever came into the light in dire situations, some of them were so old that few people even knew what they were, Itachi only knew of two laws that were recorded in the old texts.
"Why?" The information processed and combined with the older texts he had read of the clan. Some things had been lightly mentioned but there was never any clarification on the situation. Things his ancestors had assumed as normal had been neglected in their mentions and lost through time.
"According to my Great-Grandfather, the emotions we feel and the bonds we create strengthen the power of our blood."
"The Sharingan." Itachi assumed.
"Supposedly. But I think that the older generation just didn't want to go through the trouble that comes with the rebellion of the young." Mikoto smiled mischievously. "Our ancestors, the much older and distant Uchiha believed heavily in the tales of the Gods."
Itachi thought, immediately drawing a parallel, that perhaps this was the reason some of the Uchiha techniques were names after deities.
"Okuninushi, who we now see as the God of Love and Relationship, fell in love with Princess Suseri, daughter of the Storm God Susanoo. Susanoo was opposed to the marriage between Okuninushi and his daughter, so he gave Okuninushi impossible tasks to prove his worth. But with the help and protection of his beloved Princess Suseri, Okuninushi overcame these trials. Even when Susanoo tried to trap Okuninushi a field aflame, Okuninushi was aided by a field mouse and upon completing his final task, the lovers were allowed their marriage."
"So..?" Itachi prompted.
"If even the chaotic and stubborn God of Storms could not come between his daughter and Okuninushi, then what chance did they have?" His mother smiled, the light twinkle of amusement in her eye eased his heart.
//\( •̀ ω •́ )/\\ I am running out of line break ideas.
Kisame had many beliefs.
He believed that loyalty to others was given only when it was earned.
He believed that loyalty should be beneficial to all parties involved. Shinobi foolish enough to give themselves away to those who do not acknowledge their worth, they were the hopeless ones. Guppies in an ocean of predators.
He believed that he did right by his village, with every heinous act they ordered upon him, Kisame would follow through without a second thought.
"Our negotiations with the Hidden Sand village have been thwarted. Those damn Leaf Shinobi have gotten in our way too many times now. We need to gain leverage to get them off of our back before they get any ideas of putting presser on the village." Fuguki spat in annoyance.
Fuguki was his teacher and master. He was also the current owner of the Samehara, one of the legendary swords of the Mist.
Kisame wanted that sword.
He had wanted it from the first time it collided with his ribs and shattered his bones. The way the wrapped sword all but purred as it leached his chakra. It was the most fascinating thing he had seen since he had first ripped open an enemy with his blade.
But Kisame was loyal to his village and to his teacher. So, he refrained himself form taking the Samehara by force.
Fuguki turned to Kisame, "Lord Mizukage has assigned you a mission, of the usual type."
The 'usual type' referred to the only type of mission he was given in secret. Killing his fellow Mist ninja.
"But there's a bit of a spin on this one." Grinned Fuguki, "Should make it a little interesting for you."
Kisame said nothing, subconsciously taking note of a twitched muscle in his master's shoulder and the relaxing posture of his guard being dropped.
"You'll be assigned to guard a team of two in intercepting and decoding a message that is to be delivered from the land of Hot Water to the Hidden Leaf. We have intel that this message may begin trade between the two countries. We need to know what that trade is and bring it to a halt."
Suikazan Fuguki was a large man, both in width and height. It irritated Kisame how the tower of a man was always looking down at him.
"This mission is a direct offence to the peace agreement the Mist has with the Leaf. If word gets out, the Leaf will have a reason to declare war on the Mist. Do not let this happen. Acquire the information then silence the loose ends."
"I understand."
"Meet with the rest of your squad at the South-Western docks, you'll head out from there."
Without another second wasted, Kisame left the dark concrete room and navigated long corridors. Soon he was approaching the docks where two men stood whispering to each other. They spotted him as he took slow steps along the wooden overhang on the water.
"You must be our third." Said one of the men, he had dark hair in comparison to the other, "This mission is mostly stealth, but we need you to be our acting brute if things turn to battle. I'm Goshi, one of the village's specialists in Konoha codes and messages, so leave that bit to me. Shiku here will be snatching the scroll from the Hot Water Ninja." Kisame switched his gaze to the lighter haired ninja, only now did he see the slightly delicate features and shaped body. It didn't matter. As soon as Kisame had the information, these two would be dead anyway.
From the moment he first saw them, Kisame watched the other two Mist Shinobi on the mission along with him. He kept quiet and strayed away from conversation, keeping all interaction to an absolute minimum. That would make killing these two far easier on him. Kisame had learnt that it was easier to kill a man when you didn't know anything about him. This applied to all of his kills. Regardless of allegiance, origin and beliefs. At the end of the day, a kill was a kill. That was his mission.
Shiku was an average ninja, Kisame was actually surprised that she managed to trap the Hot Water ninja in a competent enough Genjutsu to take the scroll from them. All in all, it was a dull mission so far. His master's promise of an interesting mission had left him feeling mildly disappointed.
Kisame stood guard in the heavily forested area. The other two had decided that the trees would be able to provide a good cover while they focused on decoding the scroll. It was a stupid idea. They were in the land of Fire, the shinobi of this land knew their terrain. Even though Kisame knew this, he said nothing. Any blunders they did would add up on them either physically or mentally, making it easier to kill them when the time called for it. That time was soon approaching.
The Odachi that hung from his back was a reminder. This sword had carried him through his training and many, many missions. This blade was soaked in the blood of his brethren, he was anxious to stein his blade again. To hurry up and get this mission over and done with. It just seemed so pointless.
"I've got it." The coding specialist said Kisame couldn't remember his name.
"Well, what's it say?" The woman asked. Kisame didn't move from his position, seeming uninterested.
"Hold on a moment, I need to make a copy of it to take back to the village." After hearing this, Kisame turned his head to look at the other two knelt over an unravelled out scroll. "Make sure to write it in General Mist." Kisame said.
The pair looked up to him in surprise before nodding. "Yeah, that's a good idea. We don't want anyone to see this, that's for sure. If the Mist is caught with this information, it would be considered capitalising a necessary trade. Even the Daimyo of Water could be pressured by the other countries if this got out of hand."
Luckily for Kisame, this man knew how to run his mouth.
"Then the trade is..." And the woman was too nosy for her own good.
"Salt."
This made Kisame pause. The entire picture just got blown beyond proportion. The group of three went quiet as the man rewrote the scroll in the General Mist code.
"There, done."
The moment those words sounded amongst the trees, Kisame's Odachi was pulled from its sheath and swung through the flesh in a clean cut. Kisame walked over to the cooling corpse of the man and picked up both scrolls before the seeping blood could crawl its way over to the inked paper.
He pulled out a scroll from deep inside his pocket and sealed the bodies inside. They would be delivered back to his Kage upon completing his mission.
"Now, what to do." Kisame hummed to himself.
He had finished the first two parts of his mission with ease. The final part of his mission would be significantly more difficult. He needed to sabotage the trade between the two villages without any links being drawn back to the Hidden Mist. And stealth wasn't exactly his style.
Now that the woman was dead, the genjutsu on the Hot Water ninja would be broken for sure, assuming that they hadn't already realised and broken free of it themselves. There was also supposed to be a group of Leaf ninja that would meet with the Hot Water ninja to exchange information.
Kisame groaned and scratched at his dark spikey hair.
Then again, since the Hot Water ninja were missing their scroll, the trade agreement couldn't go as swiftly as it would have been. The scroll had contained information on agreements and quantities that likely was only known by the higher brass of the Hidden Hot Water village, information that likely wasn't known by the delivering ninja. Even if the delivering ninja did know the information, the trade wouldn't be recognised by the Hidden Leaf unless there was written proof they could use as leverage. They couldn't meet with the Leaf shinobi empty-handed but they also couldn't abandon meeting with them, otherwise, they would lose the agreement. Kisame glanced through the rewritten scroll, while the Leaf likely needed this salt trade it seemed like the Hot Water benefited from it more. The land of Fire was a wealthy country after all. The Hot Water needed this. In other words, they wouldn't back out unless forced to.
Konoha, on the other hand...
Kisame grinned. Konoha had pride. He could use that.
Kisame froze. The birds were quiet, the wind shifted and he could smell them. He was being watched. Two different scents were close by, high in the trees that loomed above, hidden amongst the foliage. He had been spotted, but the real question was, by whom?
He launched several explosive kunai high into the treetops. Among the falling debris of wood and leaves, two figures landed lightly on the ground in the shadows. Two masks stared directly at him. Kisame cursed at his luck. These two were Anbu from the Leaf. Skilled enough to be able to conceal themselves from him when they were less than ten meters away in the treetops. The real question was... Just how long had they been there?
"Well, I guess this mission will be interesting after all." Kisame said to himself, bringing his large blade to rest the blunt edge against his shoulders. Kisame looked down to the two masked Shinobi from the Leaf.
Something about them felt off, somehow.
One of them slowly drew the short blade of the Tanto from their back. Kisame realized it then. "You're both a little on the short side, aren't you?" Kisame taunted with a jagged grin, "Especially you." He pointed his sword to the shortest of the pair sporting a mask that looked distinctly like a spider. Kisame hadn't ever encountered a spider amongst the Leaf Anbu, not that he had the chance to fight them very often. In fact, he had only ever fought with one other squad of Anbu from the leaf.
The other mask was that of an orange-reddish fish or something of the sort. Kisame glanced over the figures, not once dropping his guard. Like a predator in wait, he watched for an opportunity. The fish moved first, hands quickly twisting through signs Kisame didn't recognise.
Kisame launched himself forward. Bringing his sword down between the hands of the fish Anbu, ending the flow and breaking the Jutsu before it could form. Kisame flinched back as the glinting silver steel of a short blade rushed between his vision.
Kisame brought back his Odachi in a quick swing aimed for the spider mask. The ringing of their blades was a surprising tone. Kisame grinned down at the little Anbu, "Oho? Not bad."
The spider ticked their teeth and grunted as Kisame added to the pressure of his sword, forcing the spider to adjust their blade down. The sound of air slicing from behind him was his only warning. Kisame released the lock on their blades and jumped high into the air. The spider followed.
The blades of air sliced through the ground where they had stood less than a second ago. The spider moved in the air, bringing the short blade towards his thigh, Kisame repelled it with little effort and with a swing of his leg, he drove the heel of his foot into the spider's shoulder, sending the blade wielder crashing down. Kisame landed in the dust cloud of the aftermath of the Jutsu. He couldn't sense his enemy.
The dust shifted. Kisame dodged narrowly as the blade sliced through the airborne dirt, his neck marginally free from being split open. His opponent was a sensory-type, he quickly realised. Kisame slowed his breathing and listened for any movement.
None.
This spider was quiet.
The dust shifted again, this time on his right. He moved. The familiar feeling of his skin being torn open with cool steel ran up his arm and through every part of his body as the rushing of his blood accelerated. It was a light scratch but it still served to hype him up a little and he blindly searched for his enemy.
Instinct alone alerted him to the incoming attack from behind. Kisame launched out a sweeping kick catching the warmth of skin as his strike collided and sent his opponent off to his left. The dust was beginning to settle but he still couldn't see or sense his opponent.
Through the parting dust, Kisame caught sight of reflecting light, he dodged the dagger-like blade as it swung past him. The spider brought it back around, he could see their silhouette through the cloud. Bringing up his Odachi, Kisame swung the long blade through the silhouette, feeling nothing, he knew the spider evaded his strike. The little Anbu dropped to the ground and raced in towards him. Pulling his longsword back up in an angle, he caught the smaller blade with his own and pushed against it.
The area cleared and he could see once again.
Kisame glanced around the area in search for the other Anbu, he needed to kill them both, he couldn't have one of them getting away and squealing back to their Kage. He caught sight of the fish sitting high in the trees, Shinobi wire curled around his fingers and glinted ever so slightly in the light filtered through the leaves. The weight of the small Anbu vanished from beneath his blade.
Kisame snapped his gaze over to the spider who vanished from their spot in a swift flicker, reappearing slightly above in one of the best body-flicker Jutsu he had ever seen himself. The spider perched in a crouch on a near-invisible wire, Tanto in one hand and a Kunai in the other. Kisame's eyes slid over to the fish Anbu. The taller Anbu raised his hands and tightened the wires, he shifted his had to the side and tugged a finger out tightly.
The sound of wire shaking snapped all of Kisame's attention and the spider was launched straight for him. He had barely any time to react, bringing his sword up to divert the steel of the smaller blade. The spider twisted as they sailed past him and landed on another wire. They shot off again, propelled by the slingshot of their combo. Kisame could only dodge attack after attack in this annoying duo's combination. Kisame parried and found that he had no time to counter, the spider would already be gone from his reach and twisting for another graceful landing on the invisible wire. He blocked in an attempt to halt all of the spider's momentum but they just twisted and readjusted accordingly. They were attempting to wear him down. What they probably didn't know was that it would take a while. He looked to the spider, then again, if the spider was a sensory-type then they should have a general idea of the size of his chakra reserves. It was fair to guess that they had some other plan in mind.
Kisame dodged another strike, a simple plan lingered on his thoughts. Aiming for the spider did nothing to help himself out of the web he was caught in. As the spider spun past his strike, leaving a slice on his cheek, Kisame took the brief moment where the spider would land and redirect to change targets. Kisame wasted no time as he kicked off the ground in a chakra enhanced leap towards the fish.
He swatted away a hasty Kunai aimed at him from the spider from behind and ploughed on after the fish Anbu. The fish took the split-second distraction to drop the wires and arm himself with a pair of Kunai. Kisame attacked, the Odachi collided heavily and Kisame couldn't help the grin that crawled across his face as the fish grunted under the impact.
From behind, the spider rushed in. Kisame threw the fish back with sheer force and turned to the spider, meeting their blade. "Plucky little thing, aren't you?" Kisame jeered. He released the hold and jumped away from the fish attacking from his left. Kisame danced between the Kunai strikes aimed for him and the little spider met every swing he aimed for the fish.
Suddenly, the fish turned and ran. Kisame followed close behind and the spider was close behind him. They broke the treeline and a great split in the ground forced the fish to stop.
"Go!" The fish yelled.
Alarmed, Kisame turned to the spider who was already in the air with a kick aimed straight for his jugular. Kisame raised his free arm to block the kick with the exposed flesh of his skin. The other arm ready with his Odachi in hand to counter the spider's blade. Kisame grit his teeth in pain as chakra exploded against his skin and the spider jumped from the platform he had unknowingly created.
Kisame turned and watched as the fish mask bounded up, linking with the spider who spun in the air and threw their teammate across the ravine before disappearing below. The fish landed on the other side and pulled at something invisible as if a great weight threatened to pull him into the ravine below. The wire screeched and the spider swung up from the depths of the ravine and landed gracefully beside the fish.
Kisame was torn between feeling pissed and amazed. He could do nothing to cross without being shot out of the sky like a hunted bird. He shouldn't have played around with the pair of them for so long, he had let his prey escape. Kisame watched the two as they turned to each other in what he assumed to be a discussion.
The fish nodded to the spider and pulled out a scroll. Kisame lost all positive feelings as he saw the scroll that originally belonged to the Hot Water ninja. He casually felt his breast pocket of his ninja attire to feel the tear in the fabric. "Damn." He cursed himself.
Kisame scowled as the fish handed the scroll over to the spider and the smaller Anbu slipped it away into the depths of their grey uniform.
The spider flicked away the minuscule amounts of his blood from their sword and drove it through the neck of the fish Anbu.
Kisame watched wide-eyed as the fish Anbu fell, guided by the sword in their throat, over the edge and down into the ravine. The spider stood, blade shaking, mask angled down to stare after the body lost below. The spider tossed the bloodied Tanto over the edge as well. A few silent seconds passed, Kisame stayed to watch the show go on.
"Is it you're intention to start a war?" Came the light but loud voice of a child from across the ravine.
Kisame regarded his answer for a few brief moments. "No." He called back and the spider nodded in understanding.
"Upon collecting the trade agreement, I was ambushed by a shinobi unknown and my teammate was killed by them." The spider said, spinning a new tail on the events that had already happened. "There doesn't need to be a war between our villages."
Yet.
There didn't need to be a war between their villages yet. The Leaf was a powerhouse that the Mist wasn't prepared to handle at the moment. Not to mention, Kisame felt that if he was to go to war, it should be with the Samehara in his hand. To go to war for his village with such an interesting and powerful sword was a thrilling idea.
"Today is your win, little spider." Kisame grinned, "But I will remember you."
He looked forward to crossing blades with the little spider again. Kisame spun his blade in a little show before sliding the steel away in its sheath. "Try to improve a little, might make next time a bit more interesting."
Kisame laughed and dodged a well-aimed but useless kunai intended for him out of spite. He turned away from the massive scar in the land and the small spider on the other side. Kisame strolled back into the darkness of the forest.