This man was…quite meticulous.
It had been two hours thus far. The training field had come alive in a matter of seconds once the two began, Tobira's steady commands balanced by the keen compliance of the young Uchiha. The two seemed to find a rhythm with ease, a stable connection formed and solidified rather quickly. Its only wavers came when Sasuke would follow through on a command a bit too well.
Itachi might find it amusing, if it weren't so worrying. Sasuke never was the best at knowing when it was the time to stop. The little ravenet just kept going, aiming for the sky when he could barely reach the ceiling. This inability, or perhaps refusal, to acknowledge his limits had landed Sasuke in a medic's grip more times than Itachi could count.
Which was why, as Tobira called out for Sasuke to get as many leaves as he could with only five practice kunai, the elder Uchiha grimaced internally.
Only a month ago, he'd been the one training with Sasuke. Itachi was sure the man expected Sasuke to either aim at a few naturally lined up leaves or manoeuvre them to rebound and hit multiple. This would be fine, but unfortunately, Sasuke wasn't as collected as he tried to make himself out to be. When the boy lost his composer, whether it be due to a crack in his wall or his eagerness slipping over, well...
The sharp clang of two kunai meeting rang behind Itachi, the teen schooling his expression into one of apathy after the initial concerned twitch. Forcing his stiff hand to relax, Itachi reminded himself that there was nothing he could do. Sasuke was on his own right now, in terms of his safety.
Only two people were near Sasuke, Itachi reinforced as a second sharp sound bound from the other side of the tree. Hands folding carefully inwards, the third crash of the weapons happened without so much as a blink from the elder shinobi. Only two people were near. A missing-nin with only malicious intent and a questionable set of eyes, most likely sent to weave Sasuke into a being of the village's design. The youngest Uchiha was on his own to fend off against both, along with the projected kunai he'd just thrown.
It would be fine. A minor cut, or perhaps a small puncture. Either would be good practice for Sasuke to handle injuries until it could be taken to get it looked at.
As one kunai flew into Itachi's peripheral vision, the final cling of metal bounding only a second before, the teen set his jaw. A leaf was pierced, lining up along with three others on the blade as it struck the bark of the tree. A strangled gasp came from behind, Sasuke's breath pulled from him.
Itachi did not look behind him, eyes instead falling on the leave-covered kunai. Its partner was surely only a few yards away, dulled tip embedded either within Sasuke or far too close for comfort.
A long semi-silence filled the air, Itachi's back straightening as three heavy thumps rounded behind him. The sounds mimicked the one that had landed only feet away, though one among them didn't quite fit.
One of the kunai never landed in the earth. Nor in Sasuke, if the lack of upset noises from the boy was anything to go off of. There was an uncomfortable ringing in the air, Itachi finding himself tempted to peer around the corner. He would, if not for the kunai lodged only a few trees over. He was too in focus now.
His eyes shifted away from the weapon, standing slowly as he heard the silver-haired man speak from behind the tree. His tone was steady and low, the displeasure easily heard in his tight tone. "I think that's enough for today, Sasuke."
"But it's only been like two hours, and you haven't taught me anything yet..." the six-year-old's words came, laced with upset. "You said you'd teach me how to be quicker."
Silently pressing his chakra to the forefront of his feet and the palms of his hands, the young Uchiha quietly scaled the tree whilst continuing to listen.
"I said I needed to get a good grasp of your skills before I taught you." Tobira corrected, "Today I got a pretty good understanding of where you are physically, but continuing from this point would be useless. You're clearly losing focus and not thinking as well as you were at the start. That kunai could have seriously hurt you if it hadn't been caught in time."
Distain built in the young Uchiha's tone, even as their voices began to dull further away. "I could have caught it." Sasuke insisted, Itachi peering at the two as he reached a well-covered spot higher up in the tree. The two had begun walking away, Sasuke being led by the hand out of the training ground. "Can't we just practice a little more? I'll do better-"
"How well you do is not the point. That's the third time you've almost managed to injure yourself because you took a basic instruction too far. Being reckless is not how you get stronger. It's how you get hurt. We can continue tomorrow if you'd like, but we're done for now." He reaffirmed, expression unwavering even in the face of Sasuke's huffy sulking.
"You swear we can come back tomorrow?" Itachi watched his younger brother press the elder shinobi, the pre-teen jumping from tree to tree with agile steps. He followed them, the training fields slowly fading behind as they neared the centre of the compound.
Nodding his head and thus marking it a promise, Tobira turned his attention from the boy to the house. "I swear. So long as I am able to, I will." the man mused. "For now, though, I believe you have homework to work on while I get dinner ready."
So it seemed some sort of schedule had already begun to form, Itachi mused with narrowed eyes. This in combination with the man's promises of more training had Itachi leaning in the direction of his former concerns. The more he saw, the more likely it seemed that the man was indeed here to mould Sasuke into a well-trained shinobi. The moulding was no surprise in itself, it was more so startling how quickly the man had been able to make base.
Perhaps after Itachi figured out how to rid Sasuke of the man he should stop by and briefly reveal himself to his younger brother. Though the man was surely up to no good, Sasuke did seem attached to some degree. Would it help Sasuke if he revealed the man's plot, whatever it ended up being? Or perhaps it would help him more to have Tobira pushed into abandoning him without explanation.
Either would surely stop Sasuke from being so open with his last remaining bits of trust- Itachi was sure he'd learn to be more dubious. The less he was willing to hand out, the less likely he was to be tricked and manipulated with it. If Sasuke got attached to him now...well, it would only make things more painful in the long run. Though he supposed it would be a good set-up for the mangekyo if he chose to wait a bit longer...
So many choices, but which one was for the best?
Pausing outside the housing district, the ravenet slid down the tree and lept deftly into a bush. Steadily following the two through the streets, Itachi dipped behind the houses. Hands behind his back, he watched Tobira walk side by side with his younger brother. A large and calloused hand found its way to Sasuke's shoulder, the man doing so half-heartedly as they walked along the blood-splattered concrete.
Sasuke's eyes shifted downwards, pace picking up as the two passed house after house. Itachi followed swiftly, eyes focused tiredly on the two as they inched closer and closer to the main house. It occurred to Itachi that the smell of blood was still heavy, though it smelt more of must than it had the last time he was here.
Ah, he really was starting to fit into the new role of rouge shinobi well. The sight of his kin's blood no longer made him want to weep. Rather, a cold hollowness sat deep inside his stomach instead. A deep ache, but not one that threatened to slip out like it had before.
Even as he slid past Izumi's old home, eyes flickering from the duo over to her mother's steadily overgrowing garden, he merely dipped his head and focused on following the two. It shouldn't take long to pick a course of action, so there was really no use in paying the deteriorating compound too much mind. It was sure to get worse from here on out. Honestly, it was a wonder Sasuke hadn't been removed from it yet. He was sure it wouldn't be long before the last remaining house was boarded up along with the main gate.
The compound would soon lose its last few residents, replaced by the many forgotten plants. Perhaps the animals would expand their territory. He knew Izumi's hyperactive rabbits would have no issues finding food. Well, so long as they didn't find themselves prey to Shisui's cat or Tekka's pups.
Hopefully the majority of them had been able to survive without their owners around.
A few of his own crows had remained behind when he left, mostly the ones that had been particularly fond of Shisui. Two sat just outside the house now, picking at some less than fresh meat from the garbage. They came to alert as they spotted Tobira and Sasuke, letting out a protective cry that went mostly ignored by the two. The most the birds got was a small sigh from Tobira, who shook his head and pressed the door open for Sasuke.
The two entered the house, Sasuke settling in the living room while the silver-haired man went to the kitchen. Itachi himself crept over to beside the crows, crouching by the trash and allowing them to hop over. They continued tearing at the mouldy meat as Itachi looked through the window. He could see the man prepping some fish with lemon and pepper, a bag of rice and broccoli set to the side for now.
If he peered further to the side he could see Sasuke beginning to meditate, though the boy seemed a bit too restless for it right now. He seemed to settle somewhat after a moment, silence falling between the two once more. Sasuke practiced meditating while Tobira cooked, the two falling into an easy rhythm once more.
Fingers tracing idly over the feathers of his crow, Itachi glanced between the two. Tobira seemed to have Sasuke at least somewhat under control already. He supposed telling the boy he was a clan member was a good way to gain at least a small sense of loyalty. From there, it would have been easy to lure him into a false sense of security.
Itachi had to wonder, though, which faction he was from. The man had the posture and attitude of a ROOT member, but he was far too expressive to be one.
As Tobira cared for Sasuke he seemed to shift between a Danzo-level of solemnness and a round of Kushina-style instructions or scoldings. Yet there didn't seem to be any disdain mixed in with the man as he served Sasuke his dinner or urged him towards the bedroom for rest.
This man seemed to be either a very good actor looking to fulfil an interest Itachi couldn't quite grasp yet, someone special called in just for this mission, or a member of the ANBU. Given how unlikely it would be for the hokage or Danzo to call in help from elsewhere to deal with the village's dirty business, Itachi would lean towards an ANBU member.
He didn't recognize the man as anyone he'd seen in the locker rooms or at the special mission request desk, but it was unrealistic to presume he had seen every member of the organization.
An ANBU member or an ambitious shinobi skilled in sliding through loopholes, then.