Author's Note: Is Akina too OP? Hmm.

Citations: Itachi's Story: [Daylight] pg.120-127

Chapter's Song: "The Resistance" by Anberlin

Chapter 29
Embers

Akina sat playing her koto as Shisui and Itachi sparred. "So when will you hear about your promotion?" Shisui asked between a few punches, blocks, and kicks.

"Probably tonight…" Itachi replied as he blocked with his elbow.

Akina listened. "…Can you guys teach me Fire Release?"

"Why do you want to know Fire Release?" Shisui stopped, asking.

"Well, I have two nature types, water and earth, which makes my Rose Release Kekkei Genkai…" She contemplated out loud. "I want to master all the elemental releases. Fire is going to be hard for me because it's the opposite of my nature type."

"Lightning will also be hard for you then as it's the opposite of Earth." Shisui informed.

"Yeah," She nodded. "Having three would suffice me."

"You want another trump card against your clan members." Itachi guessed.

Akina was surprised he seen her reasoning and saddened her expression.

"No need to feel guilty… After what they did to you." Shisui crossed his arms.

"Let's go." Itachi stated. Akina's smile softly rising in her appreciation.

Itachi stood behind Shisui as he and Akina stood closer to the end of the dock overlooking the lake. "Snake, ram, monkey, boar, horse, tiger." Shisui instructed, and then demonstrated a giant fireball.

Akina put her hands together to think about each hand sign, and then pursing her lips with her two fingers together at her lips— A small stream of smoke came out, her feeling embarrassed.

Shisui chuckled, Itachi remaining emotionless. "You have to focus on your chakra in your stomach, up and out."

"I did that…" Akina dismissed, thinking.

"Water Style deals with the flow of energy. Your stomach is a large source of energy in the body, you have to not just allow it to flow, but force it out." Shisui explained.

"That sounds disgusting…" Akina remarked, but took deep a breath and did her hand signs, pursing her lips with her two fingers together at her lips— A larger stream of smoke came out, her utterly annoyed at this point.

"Everything can't come easy, Akina. Nature Transformation takes insane amount of chakra control…" She glanced at Shisui. "You have lots of chakra, but control of it is not your strong suit."

"I can do Medical Ninjutsu, that takes a lot of chakra control." She defended with a furrow of her brows.

"Keep trying. You'll get it…" Shisui turned, passing Itachi to gesture his head to the younger boy for him to come along. "We have to get to an Uchiha meeting."

"Oh… Okay."

"You're not limited to the affinity of your chakra." Itachi reminded. "Visualize your goal and blow all your passion towards it."

"Thanks," Akina nodded.

"See you at home." Shisui gestured.

"Yeah. See you." Akina nodded.

"Later," Itachi sadly waved. Wishing he could stay and train with Akina.

"My son has been promoted to Chunin," Fugaku noted dispassionately, before the assembled brethren. Beside him, Itachi stood smartly in a Konoha jacket.

"Congratulations." It was his father's trusted aide Yashiro who spoke. His normally narrow eyes narrowed even further as he smiled. The brethren quickly followed suit, shouting out their congratulations in unison.

"Say a few words," his father urged.

"Yes," Itachi replied, in a voice devoid of emotion. He bowed deeply toward the brethren. "I am prepared to continue to devote myself body and soul to the path of the ninja, for the sake of Konoha, and for the sake of the clan. I look forward to walking it alongside you all." Itachi's short speech was far more grown-up than his ten years would seem to allow.

In the first exam, he had gotten a score second only to the record holder, Namikaze Minato, and he had completed the second exam in the shortest time ever on record, even though he was alone, and not in the usual three-person cell.

In the third exam, his opponent in the first match had defaulted, leaving him the win, while his performance in the second bout led officials to decide there was no need for him to take part in the third match. And so, his exams ended. Obviously, Itachi was promoted to Chunin.

Fugaku's son was a ninja blessed with a terrifying talent. Occasionally, Fugaku almost forgot the boy was his son, and felt jealous of the genius he possessed.

"If a ninja of Itachi's caliber joined the Military Police Force, it might perhaps improve the standing of the Uchiha within the village," The long-haired Inabi said joyfully.

Looking down on that head of shiny black hair, Fugaku gave voice to his own thoughts, "I have no intention of letting Itachi into the Military Police Force."

At once, a stir rose up in the room. But Itachi simply stared silently into space, giving no outward sign of surprise.

"Does he understand?" A feeling of doubt welled up in Fugaku, but he couldn't exactly question the boy here in front of everyone. Changing gears, he spoke to the brethren. "I would like to have my son go into the Anbu."

"The… Anbu?" Yashiro spat out, a note of animosity in his voice.

Fugaku nodded silently.

"Our Military Police Force and the Anbu have clashed any number of times in pursuit of public order in Konoha—" Yashiro began to reproach him.

"I know that better than anyone," Fugaku snapped.

To maintain the peace in Konohagakure, the Konoha Military Police Force had been established with the Uchiha Clan as its center. Even now, with Fugaku as the chief, the Military Police Force worked day and night for the sake of Konohagakure. In other words, the Military Police Force policed the village.

However, there was another force that maintained the peace: The Anbu. Under the direct control of The Hokage, the Anbu was a unit composed of capable ninja, and basically always made an appearance on important missions inside, and in the vicinity of, the village. Major crimes committed in the village were taken out of the hands of the Military Police Force, and entrusted to the Anbu.

There was no clear line between what was the jurisdiction of the Military Police Force, and what was the subject for investigation by the Anbu. At the discretion of the Hokage, the nature of the investigation would simply shift from one to the other.

This led the Military Police and the Anbu to clash every so often. And each time they did, Fugaku would stand at the head of the Military Police, and negotiate with the Hokage and the Anbu. He knew better than anyone the friction between the two peacekeeping forces.

The main building of Nakano Shrine erupted in raucous discussion. Some criticized the Anbu, others tried to guess at Fugaku's true intentions, still others noted Konoha's treatment of the Uchiha Clan. The different resentments they each held in their hearts exploded into the closed space of the shrine, all at once.

"Listen to me!" Fugaku roared.

The main shrine fell silent, filled with an undirected bloodlust.

"I understand how you all feel." Fugaku began speaking slowly, choosing his words carefully. "I feel the same way. Which is exactly why Itachi will join the Anbu. I intend to have my son act as a conduit between The Village and the clan."

Everyone present held their breath.

"As you all know, members of the Anbu Foundation are secretly watching over our compound. In which case, we will also bring watchful eyes to the village."

"And you're saying that's Itachi?"

Fugaku nodded at Yashiro's question.

The people of his clan stirred once more.

"But we are all comrades of the same village," He heard a murmured voice say— And it seemed he was not the only one to hear it. Hitting in a moment of silence, the voice had reached the ears of everyone in the building. Its owner stood beside him. Itachi was silent now, head hanging as if to avoid their eyes, a sad look on his face.

"What did you just say?" Yashiro asked.

Eyes still turned to the ground, Itachi started speaking without seeming to direct his words at any one person. "The Senju clan and the people of Konoha are still our village comrades… We should stop creating this distance and doing things to fan the flames of rivalry."

The bloodlust blanketing the room grew thicker.

Itachi appeared to notice this, too. But regardless, he continued to speak. "One side does one thing, the other does it too. You kill your opponent, someone comes for revenge. And then a fight breaks out."

"Are you siding with Konoha?" Inabi butted in.

"You're looking at things from the perspective of who is your ally, so you can't see the big picture."

"You—!" An enraged Yashiro leapt to his feet, reaching as if to grab hold of Itachi's collar— Fugaku stopped the hand of his trusted aide.

"Chief!" Yashiro shouted, anger bleeding into his voice.

"Calm yourself."

"But!"

"It's fine. Calm yourself."

With an ostentatious sigh, Yashiro sat. Itachi didn't so much as twitch, but instead stayed silent, head still hanging.

"Apologize, Itachi."

Everyone turned angry eyes on the silent Itachi.

"I understand what you're trying to say." Fugaku said. "But ideals and reality are two different things. What you're saying is at best an ideal. Fighting and war are indeed linked with hatred. But you are too young to understand the true predicament of those who are persecuted. If you could see what a difficult position the Uchiha clan has been driven to since the founding of the village, you wouldn't speak so lightly, or impulsively."

"I'm a member of the Uchiha Clan, too. I know about the predicament of the clan."

"Then apologize!" Yashiro shouted.

A sad look in his eyes, Itachi slowly turned his gaze on Yashiro. "I'm very sorry," He said in a voice that nearly disappeared.

Fugaku clearly heard the cry of pain in his son's heart. He understood, almost agonizingly well, Itachi's desire to avoid fighting. But he understood to an equal extent the dissatisfaction of their brethren. Or rather, Fugaku himself had had trying experiences any number of times, in the life he had lived thus far as a Konoha ninja.

Simply because he was Uchiha, he had been excluded from the village center.

The dreams he had in his youth had been cruelly shattered; for the sole reason that he was of the Uchiha Clan. Hokage… A fleeting desire that would never be achieved.

"We'll talk about this at home," He said, pitching his voice so that only his son could hear him.

He got no reply.

Few Days Later

"Itachi-senpai!" The voice was shrill enough to pierce his eardrums. Itachi turned around. Konoha was full of people coming and going in the evening. He himself was on his way home from making an appearance at the Hokage Residence to take care of procedures for his Chunin promotion.

Standing before him was a girl he had seen before, older than he was, the girl who had been his teammate until six months earlier.

"Himuka. Suzukaze Himuka," The girl told him her name as if reading the confused Itachi's mind. That was the first Itachi had ever heard of the surname Suzukaze. "Congratulations on your promotion."

Himuka was older than he was. But as a ninja, Itachi was more experienced. Given his strange position, he was at a loss for what sort of words to use. Should he speak more politely? Or should he talk informally? After a minute of indecision, he had landed on, "Thanks."

Not noticing this indecision on his part, Himuka looked at him with shining eyes. "I really admire you so much for getting such incredible results in the Chunin Exams! I'm proud that we worked on the same team together, even if it was only for a little while."

He didn't know how to respond. He wasn't fighting so people would praise him, or be proud of him. "Are you still on the team with that quiet guy?"

"You mean Yoji, right?" That was his name. "Around the same time as it was decided you'd be taking the Chunin Exams, Yoji was transferred somewhere else, and I haven't seen him since."

"Transferred?" Itachi's brows turned upward and downward in question.

"It was pretty sudden. He didn't even say goodbye." She reported sadly.

Something felt weird about this. "What kind of transfer happened so suddenly he couldn't even say goodbye? The Anbu?" But Yoji had only just been made a Genin. And Itachi couldn't remember him ever doing anything vaguely amazing when they went on missions together.

"I'm working hard now, with Yuki-sensei and two new teammates!" Himuka recounted in a bright tone.

As he looked at her, Itachi carved the name Yoji into one corner of his heart. And then peeked past Himuka to see Akina's green eyes watching from the Dumpling Shop. Her eyes instantly averted when Itachi made eye contact, making Itachi smile.

"I have to go, Himuka. Goodbye." He announced to just walk away.

"Oh, okay. Bye." She said as she watched him go towards a girl wearing maroon in the Dumpling Shop. "Hmm."

Akina eyes rose as Itachi entered to sit down across the table from her. She pouted, glaring at him. "You didn't even ask if you could sit."

His eyes rose. "Well you said you're going to focus on Chunin missions and not boys so you have no date."

"I could be meeting a friend…" She rolled her eyes to close in a dignified way.

"You don't really have friends." Itachi blankly stated to pierce Akina through the heart.

She glared at him, puffing her cheeks a little in annoyance for Itachi's eyes to widen, noticing the minor burns on Akina's cheeks around her mouth. "She really pushed her Fire Style training." He got up to gain Akina's attention, him taking down a small jar of salve, to open it, setting the lid on the table.

His two fingers went into the salve to then rub on Akina's cheeks; she flinched and blushed as he smoothed it out evenly on her burn. Putting some on the other cheek, as well. He was focused and didn't seem flustered at all being this close, even though Akina felt very embarrassed having him do this. "He's so awkwardly sweet…"

"Which makes me want to ask…" Itachi began.

"Hm?" Akina broke from her thoughts, waiting for Itachi to continue as he screwed the lid back on the jar.

He took a bandage out of his pouch to then open it and stick to Akina's cheek over the salve; he did the same for the other cheek, asking, "Your teammate, the girl…"

"Yugao…?"

"Yeah…" He placed the other band-aid on.

"Thanks." Akina's hand went to the top of the white cotton bandage on her right cheek. "What about her?" Her green eyes questioned, Itachi now noticing how close he was, to get up and go back to his side of the table.

"Uh, did she transfer into Anbu?"

"Yeah." She nodded.

"She told you?"

"Yeah…" Akina's eyes stared to question him with suspicion. "Why?"

"That girl I was talking to was Shinko's replacement on my team. Tenma's replacement was a guy named Yoji."

"Okay." Akina nodded.

"Yoji transferred without saying goodbye to Himuka."

"Transferred to Anbu?"

"I don't know."

"But he didn't take part in the Chunin Exams…"

"No." Itachi confirmed.

"He can't go straight from Genin to Anbu… I mean, Yugao got her offer as a Genin, but she still took part in the Chunin Exams."

"I know. Why I'm asking."

"And she still talks to me now and again…" Akina thought. "Maybe he was already Anbu?"

"An Anbu being placed on a Genin team?"

Akina stared at Itachi, both of them thinking, Itachi wondering, "It makes sense, Anbu have been spying on the Uchiha… But why spy on me specifically?"

"We're probably over-thinking it. Maybe he's more skilled than Yugao." Akina waved her hand.

"I never saw anything spectacular." Itachi keened his eyes, and then watched as Akina slid her remaining dumplings to him.

"Hides his true skill." Akina theorized, and stood.

"You're leaving?" Itachi looked up at her with mild wonder.

"Yeah. I've got a mission." She smiled gently, with a light gesture of her fingers to say goodbye. "See you."