A/N: For those still interested, welcome back to The Crow's Atonement, because Chapter 2 is here. Also, holy crap, I never expected to get so many reviews, followers and favourites. Thanks, everyone!
Disclaimer: Like everybody else on fanfiction, I own nothing.
To everyone who may've been confused by me tagging Itachi and Momo together. No, I won't be pairing them together as a romantic paring, they're strictly going to be brother and sister. I apologize for any confusion I may've caused, hence why I removed the tagged pairing. My intention, should the story make it there, is for Itachi to end up with Itsuka Kendo. I hope this clears everything up.
"Standard" - Normal Speaking
'Italics' - Thoughts
"Bold" - Super Moves
(Yaoyorozu Manor - September 24, 2258)
Her children were still getting to grips with their quirks, but in a little under two years, Maeko felt that her children had already surpassed whatever low expectations she'd set for them when it came to their development.
She also noted that they'd both developed admiration and respect for pro heroes, though neither obsessed over All Might like most children did.
Her daughter was still undecided on what pro hero she liked and lacked a prominent female pro hero to take inspiration from, while Itachi had taken a liking to All Might's sidekick of all people, a lanky, green haired man who went by the alias of Sir Nighteye and possessed a optical-based quirk, and an obscure newcomer known as Edgeshot.
Alas, when it came to their development, Momo had gone from producing a matryoshka doll within twenty seconds to making one in a little under five seconds.
It was still too long for her liking, since Maeko could make one in less than a second, but it was an improvement nonetheless, and to give her a challenge, Maeko had advised her to research the molecular structure of a ceramic tea cup.
To help her daughter understand her quirk better, Maeko had brought her books detailing the basics of biochemistry and chemistry. Most children her age wouldn't be able to understand such topics, but Momo was smart for her age.
As for Itachi, not only was he incredibly mature for a six year old, but his quirk - they'd named it the Copy Wheel Eye - allowed him to perfectly mimic the movements of others, anticipate her movements and even provided limited night vision.
He'd startled Maeko the first time he'd displayed a perfect copy of her signature, and nearly frightened the life out of her when she snuck into their rooms one night and found a pair of glowing red eyes watching her in the dark.
watched him produce it after she'd produced one herself, and if Maeko hadn't seen him write it, she would've assume she'd done it herself.
Still, being able to perfectly copy the handwriting of others had troubling implications, namely forgery, but she doubted Itachi would ever do such a thing.
He could even scan through a book and then recite it back to her, word-by-word, indicating that the Copy Wheel Eye gave him a photographic memory on-top of the other things it could do.
However, like every other quirk, even his had its limits.
Initially, having the Copy Wheel Eye on for twenty minutes gave Itachi a headache and when he pushed himself to keep the eyes active for another ten minutes, the headache would progress into a migraine.
Now, after being a stubborn little brat who was determined to push past his limits, Plus Ultra and all that, he could keep it active for forty-five minutes before developing a headache.
He was also a deeply philosophical child, questioning what defined the meaning of existence and why people fought and killed each other after doing research on past conflicts such as the Napoleonic Wars, the First World War, the Second World War, the Cold War and wars which emerged after quirks became more and more common.
Every day, she expected Itachi to have a mental breakdown and develop an existential crisis.
Where Momo studied biochemistry and chemistry, Itachi delved into the works and teachings of men like Aristotle, Plato, Nietzsche and Confucius.
Maeko didn't understand why he was so invested in the subject, but if he wanted to study philosophy and angst about life, then she'd let him study philosophy.
She was brought out of her thoughts when there was knocking on the door of her private quarters.
"Come in." Maeko said, snapping the book she was reading shut.
The door opened and Itachi stepped through, meeting her eyes for a couple of seconds and then glanced around the room as his eyes blazed red, although the colour shifted back to black as he shut the door behind him and approached.
"Mother." Itachi said, stopping before her desk.
Maeko clasped her hands together and rested her chin on her fingers as she stared at him, "How may I help you, Itachi? Are you in need of more books?"
"No, Mother, although I may need some soon, that's not what I've come to see you for," Itachi said, briefly glancing at the papers on her desk, "I've come to request that you allow me to attend martial arts classes."
"I see. What's brought this on? Tired of studying philosophy?" Maeko inquired.
The young boy shook his head, "Attending the private school and reading about the works of philosophers is a non issue, but I need an actual hobby. Plus, I believe martial arts will be beneficial to my health as a whole."
How many six years old knew how to use 'beneficial' in a sentence, but less know how to say it without slipping up?
"Have you asked your sister? Is she interested?"
Itachi nodded, "I have, but Momo's more interested in her biochemistry books, though she said she'll think about it."
"Have you looked into what martial arts you want to take up, or are you expecting me to do it for you?"
Itachi didn't even blink, "Of course I have, you wouldn't expect anything less of us. I intend to start with karate, then invest into taekwondo upon the acquisition of my green belt, before attending muay thai and jujutsu classes upon the acquisition of my purple belt."
Maeko hummed, "Aiming high, I see. Aren't you afraid of disappointing yourself?"
"We're Yaoyorozu's," Itachi deadpanned, "we don't aim low."
Maeko felt the corner's of her lips twitch upwards. That was the sort of attitude she liked, something Momo hadn't fully grasped yet.
"That's good, I'll look into dojos tomorrow."
"There's no need for that. There's a karate dojo five miles northeast of Toyohashi Municipal Hospital." Itachi stated.
Maeko gave him a look of surprise, "You've already done your research?"
The raven-haired boy nodded, "The Toyohashi Karate Academy. Opened 151 years ago and renown for its quality teaching... plus, it's the only karate dojo in the city. Lessons are from 6pm to 9pm and it's open Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays."
"Very well, I'll get your father to take you tomorrow." She replied.
"You won't be taking me?" Itachi inquired.
Maeko gave him a pointed look, "I'll be... going back to work tomorrow morning. I won't have the time to take you their, but your father told me that he'll be taking a few days off."
Translation: I'll be off doing mercenary work somewhere unimportant to you. Your father will be taking you, because I threatened to cut his balls off if he refused.
"I see. I hope your return to work goes well, Mother." Itachi said, nonplussed.
"Thank you," Maeko waved him off, "if that's all, then you're dismissed."
Without another word, Itachi backed away from the desk and walked over to the door. Opening it, he gave Maeko one last look before opening the door, walking through it and closing the door behind him.
Taking a sip of her tea, she picked up her book and opened it.
She hesitated, pausing as several of the candles and lights in the room flickered, prompting her to snap the book shut again and set it on the table..
Something wasn't right.
Was there a villain in the room, waiting to catch her whilst her guard was down?
Maeko furrowed her eyebrows as she slowly stood up, rolled up a sleeve and pulled an eight inch tantō out of her bicep.
She waited for somebody to appear.
And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
When nobody appeared, she set the tantō on the table, sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose for being so paranoid. It wasn't like an intruder could actually get within the building, not with the amount of bodyguards she had patrolling the manor.
Maeko then noticed that the door of her private quarters was still open.
She could've sworn that Itachi had closed the door when leaving.
'How odd.'' She thought, walking over to the door and closing it, but upon turning around, noticed that the tantō she produced with Creation was absent.
Meanwhile, back in his room, Itachi couldn't stop himself from smirking. His little test on his mother confirmed that the Sharingan he had, even without chakra, was still the Eye of Hypnotism. It just required longer eye contact and using the vibrant red to stimulate the various cortexes of the brain to cause hallucinatory images.
Maintaining eye contact for several seconds, compared to meeting someone's eyes for a split second and trapping them under a genjutsu, wasn't ideal, but Itachi could work with it.
(Toyohashi Karate Academy - September 25, 2258)
"Father."
"Yes, son?"
"You're aware of Mother's views on quirkless people, yes? Why are the quirkless discriminated against, aren't we all equal, whether we have a quirk or not?"
Hanzo Yaoyorozu sighed, running a hand through a black hair, "We are, Itachi, and I don't understand it, but discrimination seems to be a fixed thing in society, there's always somebody to knock down. Gender, religion, race. I imagine it probably has something to do with how those with quirks often feel superior to those without them, seeing the quirkless as lesser beings who can't do the impossible."
Itachi furrowed his brows.
So the societal divide was no different to the divide back in Konoha where a lot of shinobi had a habit of looking down on civilian, and how clan-born shinobi, especially from the Uchiha and Hyūga clans, looked down on civilian-born shinobi.
"I see. Well then, I hope to one day see a society where those with quirks and the quirkless are treated as equals." He said.
"So do I, Itachi, so do I," Hanzo said, then looked up at the large building that stood before them, "Are you ready to go inside?"
"I've been ready for the past thirty minutes, Father, but you decided to stand here and gawk at the building instead. I should be asking you that."
Hanzo guffawed, "Cheeky kid, let's go. Wouldn't want to make a bad first impression by turning up late, would you?"
"Of course not, though I would've blamed you for spacing out." Itachi said, trying to sound as teasing as he could as they walked past the doors and entered the reception area.
The receptionist, a young woman with hair seemingly made entirely out of electricity, perked up upon seeing them.
"Oh, newcomers! May I have your-" She faltered upon noticing who see was speaking to, "Yaoyorozu-san, I never expected to see you here. Are you here to take up classes?"
Hanzo chuckled, "No, I'm too old for that, but my son is."
Itachi glanced up at his father, bemused, "Father, you're thirty-six. That's not old."
His father coughed, "Uh, yeah, for kids your age, I might as well be of retirement age."
The reincarnated shinobi couldn't argue against that, Shisui always used to joke about how shinobi in their late-thirties, a rarity since a lot of them died in their twenties or had retired from active service by around 32, would be retiring soon because they were "too old for this shit".
The receptionist glanced down at him and smiled, "Well hello, cutie, may I have your name?"
Itachi blinked once, activating his Sharingan so he could read her name tag, and then a second time as he turned it off, then widened his eyes as much as he could, mercilessly exploiting the cuteness ability of any six year old, "Yaoyorozu Itachi, Akira-san."
Akira giggled, writing his name down on a register, "Polite too. I assume you're here for the beginner, pre-teen classes, Yaoyorozu-kun?"
"We are," Itachi answered, "where are they?"
She pointed off to the right, "Down that hall, go through the second door on your left. Do you have your own karate-gi or will you need us to supply you with one?"
Itachi wiggled the small bag he was holding.
Akira nodded, "Changing rooms are down the same hall; under eighteen male changing room is through the first door on your right."
"Thank you, Akira-san. Let's go, Itachi." Hanzo said.
Together, they walked over to the aforementioned door, hearing lots of commotion and talking behind it. Hanzo pushed and held it open, allowing Itachi to walk in first, thanking the older male as he did so.
They walked into a room full of young boys being helped into karate-gi by their fathers.
Some of the fathers forgot about whatever they were doing as soon as they saw Hanzo walk into the room.
"What the-"
"Why wouldn't he just-"
"Yaoyorozu-san, why would he be here?"
Hanzo signed, rolling his eyes, "No need to act all surprised people. My son wanted to learn karate, so I'm taking him to learn karate."
One of the men looked taken aback, "Forgive me, Yaoyorozu-san, it's just-"
"That you expected me to hire a private martial arts tutor like most businessmen or women would probably do?" Hanzo finished for him, scowling as the man looked away in shame.
Meanwhile, Itachi found himself crowded by several boys, all of them older than him by four or five years, as he tried to get changed.
"Heh, look at the rich boy. What, does he think he can just barge in like he owns the place?" One boy with watery eyebrows sneered at him.
"Probably thinks he's already better than us. Look at the 'holier than thou' expression on his face." Another jeered.
A boy with dragonfly wings stepped up to him, wings buzzing in what Itachi assumed was supposed to be an intimidating gesture, "Don't get too comfortable, rich boy, we're gonna knock you down a peg."
Itachi turned on his Sharingan and gave Dragonfly Boy an impassive stare, "You're welcome to try, and if you even think about poking me with that finger, I'll break it."
The boys immediately backed off, clearly unnerved by the red and black eyes.
Watery Brows sniffed and began herding his friends past Itachi and towards the door, "Come on, let's leave Mr. Freaky Eyes to get changed. We'll kick his ass later."
One of them gave him a one-finger salute.
With them out of the way, Itachi turned off the quirk and changed into his karate-gi.
"Were you okay there," he heard Hanzo say, free from talking with curious fathers, "with those kids?"
"They were nothing I couldn't handle." Itachi replied, dismissive as he slipped his arms into the sleeves of his karate-gi.
Finished changing, Itachi and Hanzo walked from the changing room to the dojo opposite, entering a room with two instructors; a man and a woman who were talking amongst each other, fourteen kids stood in-front of them with different coloured belts tied around their waists and parents sat up in stands.
"Well, good luck, Itachi. Don't let those kids embarrass you." Hanzo said, then walked up some stairs to get to where the other parents were.
The former shinobi noticed that there was a spot available at the end of the second row of children, one of them had a tail with blond hair on the end, but wondered if he should fill the spot without being told and wait for the instructors to tell him.
After little internal debate, he opted to stand there and wait to be called.
Turns out he wouldn't be waiting too long.
"Hey, new kid," The woman called, breaking away from her partner to look at him, "go and stand at the end of the second row. We'll be with you all in about seven minutes."
Itachi nodded and walked over, standing next to a girl with orange hair.
She looked at him, smiled and nodded.
Itachi nodded back, wondering whether it would be appropriate to introduce himself before or after the lesson. Momo had said not to be a stranger and make friends, so Itachi was going do that, but what else could he say besides "Hello, I'm Yaoyorozu Itachi?"
Somewhere in the afterlife, he knew Shisui would be laughing at him, teasing him over his inability to make small talk with a girl.
Itsuka wasn't entirely sure what to think of the raven-haired boy stood next to her. He kept looking at her with these big, onyx eyes of his, pausing as if expecting something, and then looking away and straight ahead.
It was painfully obvious that he wanted to speak to her.
Maybe he was just shy and wasn't good very good at talking to other people?
She looked over and found him looking again, so this time, Itsuka was going to take the initiative.
"Hi, I'm Kendō Itsuka. What's your name?"
He looked taken aback, as if he hadn't expected her to talk first, but answered her nonetheless, "Yaoyorozu Itachi, Kendō-san. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Itsuka didn't know what that meant, "Uh, it's nice to meet you too?"
She saw the corners of his lips quirk upwards slightly.
"So, what made you take up karate?" Itachi inquired.
Itsuka grinned and first-pumped the air, "I want to become the greatest female karate master in all of Japan!"
This was the point where he laughed.
However, much to her surprise, Itachi didn't laugh. Instead, he nodded and said, "That's an commendable goal."
The orangette smiled, happy that he wasn't doubting her, "You think I can do it?"
Itachi nodded, "Yes. After all, anyone can do anything if they put their mind to it."
She contemplated hugging him, but hugging somebody she barely knew seemed like an odd thing to do and nothing killed a potential friendship quite like unwanted and unexpected physical contact.
"What's your reason for taking up karate?" Itsuka asked.
Itachi shrugged, "Besides going to school, refining my quirk and studying at home, there isn't much else for me to do, so this is more of a hobby and an excuse to get out the house."
Itsuka nodded, humming, "Have any brothers or sisters?"
"One sister. She's my younger twin, I think you'd like her," Itachi answered, "What about you, do you have any siblings to speak of?"
"Yup! I've got a younger brother, but he's only two years old. He's the cutest thing in the world." Itsuka said, her voice full of cheer.
Before any of them could say any more, one of the karate instructors whistled to get the attention of all the kids in the room. Itachi refrained from saying whatever he'd been about to say and faced ahead, waiting for one of the two instructors to speak.
"We'll talk later, yeah, Yaoyorozu-san?" Itsuka whispered.
Itachi nodded as the male instructor stepped forwards.
"Alright, before he proceed with the most basic defensive and offensive karate routines, we're going to start with a little warmup. Is everyone ready? We expect to her 'yes, sensei'."
"Yes, sensei." The kids chorused.
"What was that," the female instructor called out, "neither of us could hear you. But some 'oompf' into it and let us hear you."
"YES, SENSEI." They repeated, louder.
"Better. Now, since you're all beginners, we'll start off light, but your warmups will become more extensive as time goes on. You'' be stretching your muscles and rolling your joints. You'll be doing the rolling of the head, shoulders and hips, squats, push-ups and and sit-ups. Push-ups first, copy us." The male instructor said.
They both got down into an angled planking position, thanks to their straight arms, with their legs straight as they balanced on their tip-toes. As one would expect, being instructors, their form was perfect, everything from the ankles up to their neck being perfectly in-line, though their heads were slightly tilted outwards.
The female instructor then got up, dusted off her hands and went around to each child, giving them instructions to perfect their form.
"Don't tuck in your head so much. You'll headbutt the floor before you can complete a proper push-up.""
"Bring your legs closer together and try to tuck your tail as close as you can to your body, kid."
"Bring your arms in by a couple of inches."
Then, she came over to Itsuka and Itachi. They heard her hum approvingly, "Good form, both of you. Alright, everyone, down."
Itsuka lowered herself to the flower until there was barely any clearance between her chin and the floor. She presumed, that since there was an order for them to do half of a push-up, there was going to be another order for them to raise themselves and complete the push-up.
She was proven right when the instructor shifted and said, "Hey, kid with the dragonfly wings, did I tell you to get back up? Get back down."
There was mumbled "Sorry, sensei", somewhere off to her left.
Itsuka felt her arms begin to tremble slightly as she held her lowered position, threatening to bring her chin into contact with the cold, hard floor, and with a slight glance sideways, she saw Itachi's arms were lightly shaking.
"Alright, up."
She exhaled and raised herself back into her starting position.
"Down."
The orangette lowered herself to the floor once more.
"Up."
And raised herself.
The rest of the pre-lessons exercise passed quickly, but Itachi found his arms, especially his biceps, and his abdominals were aching, and his legs felt like lead, thanks to the instructors making them do squats in the same 'down, up' manner they'd done with the push-ups.
As a shinobi, such exercises were easier and Itachi barely felt the muscles aches afterwards; sparring with Kisame give him more of a workout.
However, feeling the way he did was to be expected. Even if he knew how to do those workouts like he knew the entire layout of the Uchiha Compound, secret hideouts for the elderly and civilians included, this body was a new one, and thus, wasn't used to such workouts, even ones as basic as these.
Wiping his forehead and then looking over at Itsuka, he noticed that she was doubled over and breathing hard, sweat dripping from her forehead.
"Are you alright, Kendō-san?" He inquired.
She shook her head, huffing, "Not really, but I'll... push through. Can't achieve... my goal if... I gave up... because of this."
"Hn. But, if I may, Kendō-san, don't bend over when you're trying to catch your breath. Stand up straight with your arms behind your head so you don't constrict your lungs and can intake as much oxygen as possible." Itachi advised.
Itsuka complied, straightening her body and clasping her hands as she rested them against the back of her head. Itachi watched as she took deeper breaths and the pace at which she did so slowed drastically.
Once her breathing had returned to normal, Itsuka grinned and rubbed her hands together, clearly ready for whatever their instructors were going to throw at them next.
"Better?" Itachi asked, momentarily glancing past her to see that the other children, expect for the blond kid with the tail who clearly had the same idea as him, were still bent over and trying, but failing, to regain their breath.
When he noticed Itachi looking in his general direction, the blond seemed to shrink in on himself and quickly look away.
The orangette nodded, "Definitely, thanks, Yaoyorozu-san."
"You're welcome, Kendō-san."
Oh, it looked like his boy was making a friend. That was good. Itachi was close to Momo, who had some friends of her own in school, and siblings couldn't exactly be friends, so for Hanzo, it was good to see that Itachi was making the effort.
Before the lesson and warm-ups started, he noticed how the orange-haired girl would smile occasionally when Itachi spoke to her.
Either his boy was making jokes; unlikely, given how serious he tended to be at home unless hovering near his sister, or he was saying something kind to her; the likely scenario.
Although coming across as aloof more often than not, Itachi could come out with some heart-warming comments when you least expected it.
"Say, Yaoyorozu-san, is that your boy? The one was the black hair?"
Hanzo turned to see who'd spoken to him.
It was a fair-skinned man with long hair tied back into a ponytail which fell down to the middle of his back and was equally as orange as the girl stood next to his son. He even had a similar build to his own and teal eyes which shone with curiosity.
"Yes, sir. He's the oldest of my twins. I'd be correct in assuming the girl with the orange hair is your daughter?" Hanzo inquired.
The orange-haired man nodded, grinning, "Yup, that's my girl, Kendō Itsuka, she's aiming to-...sorry, where are my manners? I'm Kendō Itsuki."
Hanzo sweatdropped, arching an eyebrow.
Itsuki chuckled, his face going red with embarrassment, "I know, I know, 'you named your kid after yourself, but only changed one letter?' My wife left the name picking to me for our first and I had a hard time coming up with names."
Hanzo waved him off, smiling, "It's fine. I let my wife name the children. If I left to myself, I'd have given them nonsensical names. Anyways, Kendō-san, I'm Yaoyorozu Hanzo. What brings you here?"
"My daughter wants to take up karate so she can become the greatest female karate master in Japan!" Itsuki cheered.
"Aiming high? Well I say good for her." Hanzo replied, looking down at the children as they moved through routines of punching and blocking with the instructors.
Itsuki leaned forwards, looking like he was about to cheer on his daughter.
"You think she can do it, Yaoyorozu-san?"
Hanzo nodded sagely, glancing at the other man, "Of course. After all, anyone can do anything if they put their mind to it."
Itsuki suddenly looked like he was about to cry, "Yaoyorozu-san, that was such a cool thing to say!"
"Uh-huh?"
"But in all seriousness, you seem like a solid dude, Yaoyorozu-san. Wanna go out for drinks this weekend?"
"The Rising Sun?"
Itsuki gasped, "You must've read my mind. Sunday; 8pm?"
"Sounds good. You like football?" Hanzo asked.
The orange-haired man hummed and paused, "American or British?"
"British," Hanzo answered immediately, "Everyone knows that American football is just a boring rugby knockoff."
"Amen to that."
And with that, as the two men exchanged numbers, a friendship was born.
"So, Yaoyorozu-san, I guess this is it."
Hanzo snorted as the other man sniffed, wiping away mock tears, "Don't be so dramatic, Kendō-san, you're making it sound like this is where we part ways, never to meet again. We'll be seeing each other again in the Saturday class and again on the Sunday."
"But-"
Itsuka cut off her father by kicking him in the shin, causing him to yelp and hop around as he clutched the 'injured' limb, "Don't mind him. Dramatic is his default setting."
"Nonsense!" He mock thundered.
Itsuka gave Itachi a look, one that said 'I rest my case'.
The raven-haired boy shook his head, "It's been nice meeting you, Kendō-san, I look forwards to training with you on Saturday."
"Likewise, Yaoyorozu-san." She replied, holding out a fist.
Itachi extended his arm, ignoring the aches and pains of his tired body and bumped his fist against hers.
"Friends?"
"Friends." Itachi replied in the affirmative, nodding as the corners of his lips twitched.
Then, without any warning, Itsuka's first grew in size, growing until it was bigger than his head. She grinned and nudged his fist a little.
Itachi caught on to the unspoken question.
He willed his Sharingan to come to life, ruby red emerging from the depths of darkness.
Itsuka's eyes widened slightly, "Cool."
Itachi's eyes flickered down to her enlarged fist, "Cool."
Together, they turned off their quirks and then Itsuka turned on her heel and began to walk away with her father. He must've said something that annoyed her because she yelled at him and then gave chase as he began to run away, laughing as he did so.
Itachi crossed his arms and looked up at Hanzo who was grinning at him.
"Father?"
"Nothing. I'm just glad you've made a friend."
"As am I. It seems you've made-"
"Um, excuse me?" A new voice, young and male, cut in.
Itachi looked to see who it was and found that it was the blond kid with the tail who'd been looking at him and Itsuka earlier. All in all, without any discernible features to speak of, the hairy tail notwithstanding, he seemed rather... plain.
Looking past him, Itachi saw someone who he assumed was the boy's father. He looked exactly like him, but his tail was forked like that of a snake's tongue, split at the mid-point into two tails with blond hair on the ends.
"Can we help you, young man?"
The boy glanced at Itachi and fidgeted under his stare, his tail lowering itself to the ground as he did so, "I, um, noticed you earlier. You and that girl with the orange hair consistently had good, uh... form?
"Yes. That tail of yours, is that your quirk?"
The tail shifted, curling up behind the boy who swallowed with trepidation and looked away.
"Yeah."
"Don't hide it," Itachi said, "it's quite impressive."
The blond boy brightened up a bit, "Really, you think so?"
Itachi nodded, "If you incorporated it into a martial arts routine, you'd be quite the formidable fighter. Anybody who says otherwise is... stupid."
"You're the first person besides my parents to say anything good about my tail. Most other people look disgusted and kids usually tease me about it. Um, what's your name?"
"Yaoyorozu Itachi, yours?"
"Ojiro Mashirao, Yaoyorozu-san. Can I be your friend?"
"You want to-" Itachi blinked, "Yes, you can be my friend. I guess I'll be seeing you on Saturday?"
Mashirao nodded, smiled and then ran off back to his father, capturing the man in a hug as he barrelled into him.
The blond man rubbed his son's head, then looked up and gave them a thumbs up.
Hanzo simply chuckled and shook his head.
"Heh, somebody's popular."
"Father?"
"That's good. Now you can tell your sister that you made not only one friend, but two instead!" Hanzo cheered, grinning.
"Hn."
"There's a pocky place nearby. Want to go and grab some before we head home?"
"..."
Hanzo smirked at the inquisitive stare he was being subjected to, "Your mother told me about your love of those things. Almond or strawberry coating?"
Itachi answered too quickly for his own liking, "Almond... please."
A/N: So yeah, here's Chapter 2 guys. Itsuka Kendo and Mashirao Ojiro are introduced, friendships are formed and Itachi's love for pocky - was that canon or did that get made up in fanfiction and everyone just ran with it - is re-established. And once again, please review, as I said before, they're good motivation to continue writing.