Notes:
This Itachi never got edo tensei-d after his death, he already went into the circle of samsara.
Obligatory grammar warning.
—oOo—
Uchiha Itachi is certain that he had died at the hand of his younger brother on that rainy day. A fitting death if he would have to say. He had sealed his brother's path and guided his future like a puppet ever since that fateful night. Hoping that someday Sasuke would wash all their clan's sin away and become someone who has a place to belong, a place that he could call home when his previous home was destroyed by Itachi's hand.
In his death, he found no pure land. He found no angry clansmen waiting for him on the supposed land beyond death and he found no parents that would give him an ounce of undeserved consolation – a consolation on account that he protected his brother. He later realized that he is not worthy of that.
Instead, all he found was… nothing.
In his death, he discovered that time never mattered. It doesn't flow in the way that he thought it would be, there was only constant silence echoing around him.
From the roaming during his Akatsuki days, he knew that there were several groups of people who believed in the concept of rebirth.
Have your soul cleansed and then began a new life.
Such a novel idea… and perhaps, they are the right one all along. The only difference between their idea and his current situation is that his soul had never washed from his sins. He still remembers who he is, was, and honestly, Itachi doesn't know if he is glad or not. Try as he might, he never once regretted his decision to massacre his entire clan while leaving his only brother alive. The entire clan for his brother – that's the only correct decision at that time.
Father and Mother understood his choice.
There is no room for regret.
—oOo—
He has no difference from a normal baby or toddler before his four years old birthday. After that birthday, Itachi's memories started to trickle little by little, until three months after his birthday, he finally remembered all of his previous life experiences. Including the good and bad memory.
His caretaker is worried when she notices that the normally talkative toddler began to talk less and less as the days went by. The woman is in her forties and doesn't seem to be someone born from his current clan. To relieve her worries, he starts to mimic how he used to act before he regains his memories back.
He is living his new life for more than four years but he has yet to meet or even see his nominal father, not that he is particularly eager to meet him. He finds no excitement in rediscovering his new family. The last family he had... they didn't end well.
From his caretaker's words, he is the youngest son of the current clan head and he has several siblings above him. He finds that other than shelving this as ordinary information, he doesn't care about it.
—oOo—
Itachi is sitting on the engawa, watching the scenery in the garden outside his room when he hears the typical sound of a sliding door being opened, a sound that he associates with his current caretaker. He looks away from the fishes inside the pond and realizes that the sun has almost completely disappeared from the horizon, casting its orange light upon the waking world.
Itachi hears steady footsteps a few seconds before the owner begins to speak. "Young Master, please come in, the air is cold."
He turns his gaze and sees the woman standing on the line created by the sliding screen which separates his room and the garden. She stands straight with one of her palms covering the other.
She wears a traditional kimono. He doesn't know if this particular apparel is considered casual wear in this world, but everyone in his current clan wears them. In his previous life, he didn't wear them often even when he was the clan heir. Aside from a formal event, this apparel rarely comes out of the closet.
He silently regards his caretaker and stands up. Itachi walks inside and sits on the chair beside a vase of flowers in the corner of his room. She closes the sliding screen after he comes in and walks toward him, then politely she says, "Young Master, it's your bath time."
Ah yes... that. He tries to ignore the creeping embarrassment and firmly speaks, "Yori-san, I will do it on my own from now."
There is a moment of silence between both of them. She seems reluctant, presumably worried that he would somehow crack his head open on accident, but as a servant, she could not outright refuse his order. "I'll be very careful," he adds for a good measure.
In the end, she accepts his order and leaves.
—oOo—
Most of his days, he spends in leisure. The only contact he has is Yori as his sole caretaker. There are other servants assigned in his courtyard, but he never addresses them and they never dare to speak to him.
The one who is responsible for his early education is also his caretaker. She asks, never orders, him to memorize kanji. She doesn't need to, but he has no excuse for his advanced knowledge and decides to walk with the flow.
"Yori-san, what's on dinner?" He asks, just because his previous self routinely asked this question.
"It's the usual. Young Master, do you want something else?" Yori looks up from his supposed beginner calligraphy practice. "I will inform the kitchen staff."
Itachi pretends to think for a while then decides against that offer, "no need."
Yori nods and once again examines his calligraphy. He hopes he fakes it good enough, he never uses Sharingan to copy subpar calligraphy so he doesn't know.
She puts the paper aside, a sign that she finished her reviews, and comments on his work. "Young Master, your style has changed from before."
Oh well... "Is that so?" He tentatively inquires what she means by that. "Is it bad?"
She quietly sighs, if Itachi doesn't have a good sense of hearing, he may have missed that. "Not necessarily," she stops but continues shortly, "Young Master's previous calligraphy looks very free-spirited but this one... the characters look as if they are a perfect copy of one another." In another word, his calligraphy is very rigid, is that right?
Itachi doesn't have a response to this so he keeps silent. In the end, she praises him, "in a way, this is an improvement, it's just that the style is very different."
—oOo—
"Young Master, the clan head orders for your presence."
On his birthday, his life once again changed.
He is five years old when his father and clan head asks for his attendance at a meeting. Yori says this is an introductory meeting for all potential heirs and is only held when they reach five years old.
Following his caretaker's suggestion, he changes to his more formal outfit, a child-sized light blue kimono. She says that this is important and Itachi doesn't particularly want to stick out like a sore thumb.
The main hall is located in the middle of the compound. During his walk, he notes that many servants are doing their duty. A few of them stop their work and look at him, but the moment they know that he also silently watches them, they hurriedly continue their job.
—oOo—
In the main hall, Itachi sees many new faces. According to their seating position, he already guessed most of their identity. Well, no. He only knows their position and status inside this clan, he couldn't exactly place a bunch of unknown faces with similarly unknown names. There are elders, a few uncles and cousins, and ah of course… a few brothers.
He stands at the other end of the hall and formally bows, "This son greets father." The moment the man in the middle gives an affirmative hum, Itachi looks up and sees someone.
Someone disappointing...
No. Rather than someone disappointing, and if he is being honest with himself, he is disappointed that the one he sees on the other end of the main hall is someone unfamiliar.
He tries to find familiarity in the man's face, but there is nothing.
—oOo—
"You are five years old today." The man, Zenin Naobito, starts to speak after Itachi sits on his designated seat.
"Yes, Father."
"Ah, then it's lucky for you to be born of the Zenin Clan, one of the three great jujutsu clans."
Jujutsu, a new word. His caretaker never once mentioned this word in front of him. Knowing his lack of information, Itachi patiently listens to his father's speech regarding this clan, including the secret society surrounding them, and finds that its presence is more secretive than his usual hidden ninja village.
"... To earn your place, you must show your worth." The man ends his speech with this sentence. There is no sound from the other occupants in the room, they are waiting for his response. And a response he will give.
"This son follows Father's will." Someone snorts, it is one of his supposed brothers. Itachi looks to that spot and finds him, a forgettable little boy, only a few years older than him.
He ignores him and looks toward the clan head.
—oOo—
They bring him into a room filled with unknown creatures. To prove his worth means he would have to fight these things…
The room is dim and he can only see a few glimpses of these creatures. Creatures that look like an amalgamation of Leader's Animal Path's summons.
Itachi notices one of them starts to rush towards him and his eyes bleed red. He feels a familiar sign of Sharingan blooming on both of his eyes and dodges the creature's attack. He has no time to think why he would have his Sharingan with him in this new life when something is about to maim him.
He has no strength to perform proper taijutsu and he has no big reach based on his current body. In the end, he decides to use his preferred technique, Genjutsu. Whether these creatures would be affected by his illusion or not, he doesn't know.
He does it anyway, he has nothing to lose.
—oOo—
Notes:
I'm craving for Satoru and Itachi interaction. They're both geniuses and in somewhat similar situations but they're so different in personality that I just want to put these two together in a room. Satoru can be very charismatic if he wants to be, but charisma is the farthest thing you can assign to Itachi.