A/N: Hey everyone, welcome back to The Crow's Atonement, because Chapter 4 is here. Additionally, after some consideration and a complaint from a reviewer, all mentions of Itachi quirk will henceforth be solely known as the Sharingan.
Disclaimer: Like everybody else on fanfiction, I own nothing.
"Standard" - Normal Speaking
'Italics' - Thoughts
"Bold" - Super Moves
Under Sir Nighteye, Itachi quickly learned that not all heroes were the same. Their variety reminded him a lot of shinobi; those who were fiercely dedicated to their duty, those who stood out amongst the rest and left a mark on society as a whole, the brash and aggressive one who was always behind the prodigy of the group and had a habit of using excessive force, those who fought solely for the fame and money that came with being one of the best, the lone wolves who disliked the notion of fighting in a team, and those who disliked the limelight and kept to the shadows.
From what he'd heard about, All Might, Japan's No. 1 Hero, it was clear that he was as revered as Senju Hashirama was in Konoha, bestowed with the title of the Symbol of Peace by the general public. A legend of unimaginable power and someone that other pro heroes could only dream of living up to. The man could unleash punches with enough force to shake the earth and change the weather, but he carried a smile of unwavering confidence that put many at ease and even made many villains think twice about fighting him.
It was the same smile that Shisui carried whenever he spoke about hoping to see change in the Uchiha Clan and one that Naruto carried upon declaring that only he could bring Sasuke back to Konoha.
Itachi knew, if he became a pro hero in the future, he wouldn't be one like All Might. His kind were the 'once in a generation' sort and Itachi wasn't the incredibly emotive kind of person.
The man behind All Might was Endeavor, Japan's No. 2 Hero. He had an impressive track record of solving crimes, reached his position at age twenty, having skipped the usual process of becoming a sidekick after becoming a pro, but had been stuck in the shadow of the No. 1 for nearly two decades. According to Nighteye, the man's anger and bitterness made the majority of the public fear him and his quirk meant low-level villains surrendered instead of fighting him and were thus spared life-changing burns.
He didn't know how it was possible for anyone except for bullies and abusers to support the man.
Endeavor wasn't someone Itachi wasn't going to look up to, and he didn't want Momo looking up to him either.
If anything, he and Momo would be the kind of pro heroes who worked well as a team - Itachi was basing this off the fact that they often helped each other was studying and quirk research, but knew unforeseen future circumstances could change that.
Furthermore, when it came to the apprenticeship under Sir Nighteye and learning how to improve his Sharingan, Itachi found himself doing exactly that. When it came to sparring, Centipeder and Medusa were ferocious and much more faster than Itsuka.
(Nighteye Agency's Main Training Room - May 16, 2263)
For a man of his size, Centipeder was deceptively fast. Itachi didn't underestimate the abilities of others, shinobi who did tended to be the ones who got themselves killed for their arrogance, but he'd miscalculated how quickly the man could move.
With his underdeveloped Sharingan, he could barely keep up the man's moves and constantly found himself on the defensive whenever they sparred.
Clearly, 'holding back' wasn't in the man's vocabulary.
Itachi jerked his head to one side, avoiding the punch that grazed his ear, then blocked a knee strike that probably would've cracked his sternum. Quickly ducking to avoid the kick to the head, he rolled back to avoid the dropkick that followed. Itachi was barely able to get back to his feet when Centipeder was upon him again, unleashing a flurry of punches that he had to dodge and block as his quirk darted around, trying to keep up.
A punch slipped past his guard, striking his shoulder and Itachi used the backwards momentum to roll away.
"I hope you don't intend to be on the defensive forever, Yaoyorozu-san?" Centipeder called, rushing towards him.
The raven-haired boy settled into a fighting stance and shifted his head from left to right, avoiding two punches, then backhanded away another, ignoring the protests of his knuckles, before using his small stature to bypass the length of Centipeder's arm. Throwing a punch into the man's kidney, he backflipped as the man doubled over, kicking him in the chin.
As Nighteye's sidekick staggered back, Itachi darted forwards, dropped to the floor and slid into his legs like a footballer tackling another player, bringing him down.
He crashed into the floor with a grunt, then got back up in time to grab Itachi's ankle before the attached foot could crash into his face. Tightening his grip around it, Centipeder twisted his body and flung Itachi across the room, watching as the boy hit the ground in a roll and sprang to his feet.
Rising back up to his full height, Centipeder narrowed his eyes when he noticed the tomoe in Itachi's Sharingan shifting until another tomoe materialized in both, positioned completely opposite to the first.
The man raised a hand, "Yaoyorozu-san, your quirk has progressed."
"I can tell." Itachi replied, eyes narrowing as he settled into another stance, allowing his brain to adjust and process all the extra information it was now receiving, from the floating specks of dust that he wouldn't have noticed before with lone tomoe, or the minute hairs that lined the back of Centipeder's hands.
He knew that the predictive capability of the Sharingan had been increased by a significant margin, but he'd let the others figure that out on their own.
"Would you like to continue?" Centipeder inquired.
Itachi nodded.
"Very we-" The sidekick was forced to adopt a defensive stance as the raven-haired teen darted towards him, launching a flying kick at his feet that he was forced to block.
Itachi flipped in mid-air as Centipeder pushed back against him, sidestepped a punch to the head and delivered his own into the bottom of the man's ribs, causing him to grunt and jerk backwards. Pressing onwards and not giving him time to recover, Itachi drove his knee into the same area as before, then jumped into the air and delivered a flying roundhouse kick to his face.
They exchanged several punches that never met their intended targets, before Centipeder flinched as Itachi punched him in the groin, stunning him and leaving him open for a blow to the solar plexus which knocked the wind out of him. It was immediately followed up by the strike to the brachial plexus which numbed his right hand and caused pain to explode through his shoulder, and then a punch to the midline of his right thigh, prompting him to drop to one knee as his leg gave out.
He reared back as a punch soared towards his face, blinking when it stopped just short of his nose.
'He could barely keep up with me with one tomoe, but he practically outperforms me with two? Kid, you'll be a monster when those eyes of yours mature fully.' Centipeder thought, groaning as he tried to ignore the pain between his legs.
"I concede," He said, sounding proud as Itachi backed off, "how did you know where the pressure points are? I wouldn't expect someone your age to know where they are."
Centipeder didn't even expect the boy to be dirty enough to punch him in his groin.
"My mother had me learn. She said knowing about them would come in handy someday." Itachi replied, dismissive as he willed his Sharingan to deactivate.
"Well then, she's a wise woman." Centipeder replied, shoulders sagging as he heard snickering off to one side.
They both looked over to see Medusa watching them, arms crossed as she grinned at the mutant-type quirk user.
"Man, Moashi-san, the kid really kicked your ass there. What'd you do to him, insult his sister?" She inquired, cocking her head to one side.
Centipeder coughed, his skin darkening as if he were blushing in embarrassment, "...How long were you watching?"
"Enough to watch the kid hand you your ass on a platter. Better be glad the boss wasn't here to see that." Medusa remarked.
"Keep mocking him," Itachi deadpanned, "I'll be more than happy to humble you a notch or two."
She recoiled and gasped, putting on a show of dramatically clutching at her chest as if having palpations, "Yaoyorozu-san, you'd hit a girl, especially sweet, little me? I thought you were raised better than that?"
"I was, but for you, I'd make an exception."
"Then..." Medusa paused, "Did you just a make a joke?"
"Yes."
"Ah."
"Hn."
Centipeder sweat-dropped. How was he stuck in the middle of these two optical-based quirk users who, five months after Itachi's arrival at the agency, were getting on like a house on fire, yet in the good sense of the term.
"You and Itachi can fight each other later. Let's see what the boss is up to."
Itachi nodded and followed the sidekick out of the door, Medusa right next to him. Descending a flight of stairs to the ground floor from the 3rd floor, the trio came across quite an unusual sight that had Medusa devolve into a fit of laughter.
Bound to a wall via several clamps was a blue skinned, blue-haired girl dressed in a skin-tight, dark-blue crop top with a white, high collar and a zipper running through the centre in a vertical fashion. Whether it was because her arms were raised or by design, the top showed off the underside of her breasts and left her entire abdomen exposed, which seemed impractical to Itachi if it were a costume.
She was also being tickled by several mechanical arms that were coming out of the wall, eliciting laughter and tears as she squirmed, all the while Sir Nighteye loomed over her, fingers on one hand splayed; the other held a remote, as he stared at her like some kind of perverted weirdo who got off on the humiliation of others.
"Oh... oh dear." Centipeder mumbled, facepalming.
Medusa sniggered, covering her mouth with one hand, "Oh man, I remember when he did that to me too. Poor girl, I actually feel sorry for her."
At the sound of their voices, Sir Nighteye turned and glared at them.
He might've just been looking normally at them, but the man's gaze was so intense, sometimes making it impossible to tell when he was and wasn't glaring.
Itachi, who was glad the Sharingan wasn't on; otherwise he'd have this strange moment forever burned into his mind, suddenly remembered how to speak once the absurdity of the situation passed, "I see that we've come at the wrong time. Perhaps we should come back later?"
"Kid, really, that's all you've got to say?" Medusa hissed, nudging him in the side.
Itachi shrugged, "Nighteye-sensei clearly has... peculiar tastes when it comes to entertainment. Unless it affects me, it's none of my business."
"AHAHAHA, Sir Nighteye, please, turn it off! Please, turn it off!" The girl laughed, crying and squirming, "Turn it off, please! I'm going to pee myself, HAHAHA!"
Without breaking eye contact with any of them, the green-haired man raised one hand and pressed a button on the room, causing the mechanical arms to retreat back into the wall, then pressed another button, causing the clamps to release the blue-haired girl.
She crumpled to the floor like a sack of potatoes.
Itachi hurried over to her side and knelt next the bluenette as she sat up and leaned against the wall, head raised with sweat rolling down her face and neck as she tried to catch her breath.
"Are you okay?" He inquired.
"I am, thanks," she focused her eyes on him, "and who are you? You're far too young to be an intern."
"Yaoyorozu Itachi, and I'm an apprentice to Sir Nighteye. He's helping me improve my quirk and gain an understanding of heroics. At the end, I should hopefully gain a recommendation to UA." Itachi replied, putting on his best 'isn't that so cool!' voice.
He heard disbelieving and incredulous snorts coming from Centipeder and Medusa.
"Ah, it's nice to meet you, Yaoyorozu-san. I'm Awata Kaoruko, but you can also call me Bubble Girl. And, um, did Sir Nighteye tickle you when he first came here?" She inquired, picking herself up off the floor.
Itachi shook his head.
"He tickled me though." Medusa said, walking over and raising her glasses.
Itachi covered Kaoruko's eyes before she could meet eyes.
"Yaoyorozu-san, what're you doing?" The bluenette inquired.
Itachi very nearly rolled his eyes, "Trust me, Awata-san, you don't want to look."
"Aw, why you gotta spoil my fun, kid?" Medusa pouted, lowering her sunglasses so they covered her eyes, prompting Itachi to move his hand.
Sir Nighteye's gaze swept over his sidekicks, his new intern and his young apprentice.
"Yaoyorozu-san," he started, "have you made any progress with your quirk?"
The raven-haired boy in question nodded, "Yes, sensei."
To prove his point, Itachi activated his Sharingan and Mirai watched as two tomoe orbited each pupil. The green-haired man nodded, then looked at Centipeder, noticing the abashed aura about the man.
"Centipeder, is there something you'd like to say?"
With his employer addressing him, the sidekick stiffened, "Sir Nighteye. Itachi's Sharingan made it's progress when we sparred together and it's new visual prowess is quite the fearsome thing. With only one tomoe, we fought on mostly equal footing, but with two, I was outperformed. He dominated me."
Sir Nighteye narrowed his eyes slightly, "I see. As Medusa is the faster combatant, no disrespect to you, we'll see whether his eyes can keep up with her."
"Yeah, I get to kick your ass, kid!" The other sidekick cheered.
"You hope you get to kick my ass." Itachi corrected, completely deadpan as he deactivated his Sharingan.
"If you two are done squabbling, could Yaoyorozu-san please show Awata-san to the guest room?"
Wordlessly, Itachi nodded and headed for the stairs. After making sure Kaoruko was following him, he led her up the fourth floor, past the guest room marked for his use and to another guest room which was bare, and save for a bed, a cupboard and a workbench, was completely bare.
He tilted his head to one side as Kaoruko walked inside, feigning ignorance, "This is where you'll be sleeping and resting for the rest of what I assume is an internship. What is your internship about?"
"Oh, it's this thing where pro heroes take an interest into first-years after something called the UA Sports Festival. Normally, pros take internships for second-year students, but as a first-year, Sir Nighteye must've seen something in me." Kaoruko started, smiling.
'Yeah, the opportunity to tickle you half to death.' Itachi thought drily.
She continued, ignorant of his thoughts, "We get offers, but before we accept, we have to come up with a hero name. Once that's chosen, we select who we want to intern under and the school will send them a notification before our arrival. These internships will basically allow students like me to gain experience of how heroes operate for real. What're you doing here, I mean, as an apprentice?"
Itachi shrugged, "I wasn't making much progress with my quirk at home, so my mother sorted out an apprenticeship for me. Most kids don't get a chance like this, but I should receive at recommendation to UA at the end of this."
"Cool," Kaoruko clapped her hands together, "Hopefully the rest of your apprenticeship goes well."
"Same to you with your internship, Awata-san." Itachi replied cordially.
"If you don't mind me asking, since you must be still in school, how do you managed to fit your apprenticeship into all of this?" Kaoruko inquired, staring at him curiously.
"I attend a private school, after my sister and I were initially home-schooled. My apprenticeship eliminates attendance on Friday and Saturday, but to make up for any missed work, the school sends copies of classwork and homework to Sir Nighteye's Agency. Between training and learning under him, he gives me time to complete the schoolwork, before sending it back to the school for marking." Itachi explained.
"A private school? Must be pretty cool there?"
Itachi deadpanned, "It's full of snobby kids, born from businessmen and politicians."
Kaoruko giggled, "Ah, so less 'cool', and more 'tiresome'?"
"Exactly."
They both paused as Itachi's phone started ringing, causing the calls of multiple crows to loudly echo throughout the room. Moving to take his phone out of his pocket, he noticed the 'Sir Nighteye' and the man's contact number displayed on the screen.
He expected Mother to call him, perhaps to see how he was faring under the pro heroes tutelage.
But why would Sir Nighteye be calling him, especially since the man was only downstairs, unless something important had come up and he deemed it worthy of Itachi's attention?
Shrugging, he pressed 'Answer' and then turned on his phone's speakerphone, "Nighteye-sensei?"
"Yaoyorozu-san, please bring yourself and Awata-san downstairs. We have a situation nearby." Nighteye's voice blared through the phone.
Itachi heard Kaoruko shift in place, "What kind of situation?"
"A high-speed chase between the police and a villain. The police have already called to inform me that the villain is headed towards my agency. I'll be dealing with him and you are both my intern and my apprentice, this will be a learning experience for the both of you." Nighteye's voice replied.
"Very well, we'll bit down quickly." Hanging up, Itachi headed straight for the stairs, not even stopping to check whether Kaoruko was following him.
One descent down a flight of stairs later had the raven-haired boy stood outside on the pavement, next to the pro's sidekicks and intern, while the man himself was stood in the middle of the road, waiting patiently for the villain to appear.
The few cars that approached him from behind here halted with a turn of the head and a glare.
Nearby civilians, completely unaware of the incoming villain, were stood around, gossiping amongst each other as they pointed at Sir Nighteye and even gestured towards Itachi and Kaoruko.
"Hey, hey, isn't that Sir Nighteye? All Might's former sidekick?"
"Yeah, man. What's he doing with those two kids, especially the one with dark hair? What is he; nine, ten maybe?"
"Oi, look at the guy with the centipede head! Is that his sidekick?"
"Centipeder, Medusa," Sir Nighteye started as the wail of police siren got louder and louder, "Please ensure all civilians are out of the line of fire. Bubble Girl, assist Medusa, and Yaoyorozu-san, stay near the agency."
Itachi watched as Centipeder approached nearby civilians and began to herd them away, gesturing calmly with his elongated arms. Medusa was getting the few gathered cars to back away, while Bubble Girl helped an elderly woman who smiled and gave her a sweet in thanks.
He understood the relationship between pro heroes and their sidekicks already. The pro heroes dealt with the primary crisis, while sidekicks acted as their backup and made sure to clear the area for them. Itachi understood that without their sidekicks, a pro hero would be stuck between dealing with whatever crisis was present and trying to get civilians away from the fight.
The furious rumble of an engine brought him back to the real world.
Glancing down at the end of the road, Itachi saw a man on a motorbike shoot around the corner, followed by half a dozen police cars, one of which flipped over as the driver lost control, and it was impossible not to notice the fact that he had dozens of spines sticking out of his body, almost as if he were a humanoid porcupine.
He would've turned on his Sharingan to avoid missing anything, but recalled how there were laws which outlawed the unlicensed uses of quirks of public, and the Japanese criminal justice system, when it came to unlicensed quirk usage, wasn't something to be trifled with.
He might've only been ten, but Itachi wasn't about to try his luck.
Turning back to Sir Nighteye, Itachi furrowed his brows when he noticed the man was holding onto several small, black objects in his right hand.
He flung them with impeccable accuracy, like a shinobi would with kunai.
One of the objects struck the front wheel of the motorcycle with such force that the entire thing crumpled in on itself, while the remaining two struck the driver directly in the chest. He went limp, like a puppet that had it's strings cut and flew off the bike as the total destruction of the front wheel caused it to flip over.
The man hit the ground and skidded along the floor, snapping several of his spines in the process, whilst the bike scraped along the floor, throwing up rocks and bits of metal until it came to a stop at Sir Nighteye's feet.
The backpack he wore fell short of Nighteye and out of it spilled a handgun, bunch of jewellery such as diamond encrusted rings and obsidian necklaces, and several expensive-looking watches.
The nearby civilians cheered and broke out into applause as the police cars screeched to a halt.
Several of the officers got out of their cars, wearing gloves as they collected the stolen items and the firearm; another put handcuffs on the unconscious man and tapped his face until he woke up, but the last officer, a man in his late-forties, approached Sir Nighteye who'd gone around collecting the objects he'd thrown.
"Thank you for taking down the villain, Sir Nighteye. Thanks to you, we could apprehend him without any further trouble, no civilians got hurt and his criminal career of stealing expensive stuff is over."
The green-haired man fixed the police with an intense stare as he pocketed the small, black objects, "It's no problem. Stopping villains is my duty as a hero after all."
The officer shivered under the stare, then glanced at Itachi, "Who's the kid? Is that your son?"
"He's my apprentice," Sir Nighteye corrected, sounding ever so slightly incredulous, "and he's Maeko Yaoyorozu's son."
"Oh... right, so your not his father?"
"Hanzo Yaoyorozu is the boy's father. I'm sure you must know who he is; one of the richest men in Japan?" Sir Nighteye replied, his scowl growing in intensity.
"What about the blue-skinned girl?"
"She's my new intern."
"And the other two?"
"They're my sidekicks; Centipeder and Medusa."
The police officer nodded dumbly.
The pro hero glared at him.
"Right, uh, I'll get somebody to pick up the motorbike by the end of today. Again, thanks for the assistance." The police officer said, making a hasty retreat to his car as his partner stuffed the criminal into the back.
As the police cars sped off and Centipeder, Medusa and Bubble Girl returned to his side now that the danger had passed, Itachi watched as Sir Nighteye dragged the motorbike out of the room, took the keys out of the ignition, then gestured for the waiting cars to pass.
Sir Nighteye looked up at the news helicopter which circled around the area, evidently having followed the police cars and recorded the chase, before walking back towards his agency.
"Come, let's get instead. The media will be here soon, give or take fifteen minutes." The green-haired man said.
Itachi raised a hand, stopping him in his tracks, "Nighteye-sensei, if I may, what are those things you threw at that man?
"Oh, these?" Sir Nighteye said as he stopped to look at him, taking out one of the small, black objects from his trouser pockets and rolled it between his fingers.
"I used these long before I split from... my previous partnership," he started, gaze fixed solely upon the black object, "They're called Hyper-Density Seals; weigh 5 kilograms each. When thrown with enough force, they pack quite a punch to take someone down, especially in a barrage of two or three. These things make up for my lack of physical medium-range combat capabilities; they're quite the humorous thing. What sort of weapon would best suit a salaryman?"
Itachi hummed, nodding.
"And even if somebody noticed you handling them, given their size, they wouldn't expect to have to dodge such a thing. Although, I must ask, why only five kilograms?"
Sir Nighteye tilted his head slightly, "I carry a dozen of them. They may only weigh 5 kilograms each, but too many will present an unnecessary physical burden. Additional weight will drag me down even more and I still have to be mindful of gravity when throwing them. More weight will make it harder to hit a distant and/or moving target."
"I see. That makes sense, may I begin practising with them at some point?" Itachi asked, staring intently at the seal.
"I don't see why not," Sir Nighteye stated, "we possess similar quirks which lack any external physical abilities, save for your ability to cause hallucinations, so these Hyper-Density Seals should make up for your lack of medium-range combat capabilities."
(Yaoyorozu Manor)
Knock, Knock, Knock
Hearing someone knocking on her door, Momo slid a bookmark into the mystery novel she'd been reading, snapped the book shut and then looked up at the clock that was hung up in her room.
Seeing the clock hands were on 7:45pm, she knew that Itachi had to be home from his apprenticeship. The Creation quirk user stood up from the seize position she'd been in and walked over to the door, opening it.
A wide smile nearly split her face in two upon seeing her elder twin stood opposite her.
She quickly wrapped her arms around him, trapping Itachi in a hug before he could get a word out, and it took him less than a second to reciprocate the gesture.
"It's good to see you too, Mo-chan." Itachi said, a small smile on his face.
Momo nodded into the hug, then pulled away, "You too, Ita-kun. How did your day at Sir Nighteye's Agency go?"
She watched as Itachi activated his Sharingan. Momo was about to ask him why'd turned on his quirk, but then noticed how each of his eyes held two tomoe which sat completely opposite each other.
Momo clapped her hands together and smiled, "Oh, you progressed your quirk, Ita-kun. That's good to see. I assume it enhances what you could do with only one tomoe, especially the ability to predict the movements of whomever you're looking at?"
Itachi nodded, his Sharingan turning off.
"What about you, Mo-chan? How's your martial arts and Creation training coming along?" He asked as they both moved to sit on her bed.
"I'm enjoying doing karate with Kendō-san, who's a great teacher and has lots of patience, and Ojiro-san," Momo replied, eager to show Itachi was she'd learned in regards to both topics, "and as for Creation, I want to show you something."
Standing up, Momo pulled her shirt up so her stomach was exposed, then put her other hand to rest against the skin.
Multicoloured lights sparkled to life as she grabbed the tip of a wooden staff and began to pull. It took her a few seconds to extract the whole thing, but she was finished Momo proudly held up at wooden staff that was 6 foot long and allowed her shirt to fall over her stomach.
"Oh, that's a bō." Itachi said, looking between her and the staff.
"Actually, Ita-kun..." Momo trailed off, smiling as she grabbed both ends of the staff and pulled. The staff split into three, with each section being 60 centimetres in length and connected to one another by several metallic rings, "...it's a sansetsukon."
Itachi smiled, "Show-off."
Momo giggled, "I aim to impress."
"You do indeed. Do you want me to make you something for dinner?"
Momo shook her head, setting the sansetsukon to one side, "I appreciate the offer, and as much as I love your cooking, I'm going to have to decline. Father said he'd order takeaway, Korean, after he picked you up."
She looked past Itachi to see one of the housemaids standing in the doorway, hand raised to knock on the opened door.
"Is there something you need, Aiko-san?" Momo inquired, sure that she'd gotten the woman's name right.
Mother and Father employed so many housemaids that it became almost impossible to remember them all.
As Itachi turned to look at who she was talking to, the maid bowed deeply.
"My apologies, Yaoyorozu-sama, but your Father sent me to inform you that he's about to order and would like to know what you both want."
"There's no need for that," Itachi spoke before she could, "we'll tell him ourselves. Thank you, Aiko-san."
The housemaid bowed again, then left quickly.
Itachi turned back to her.
"Barbeque?"
"Barbeque." Momo confirmed.
However, before we order barbeque, there is something I must talk to Mother about."
"Oh, like what?"
Itachi tilted his head slightly, "It's nothing for you to worry about."
When Momo nodded, Itachi left the room and made his way to Mother's private quarters and knocked on her door.
Upon receiving permission to enter, he pushed the door open - finding Mother sat in a meditative position - and shut it behind him.
"How may I help you, Itachi?" She inquired, peering up at him.
"Mother, I been watching your... behaviour when it comes to my sister," Itachi started, "I allowed it to slide initially, given how you share the same quirk, but I do believe that you are being far too harsh on her. Furthermore, you put too much pressure on her with your high expectations. In-case it isn't clear, I'm telling you to dial it back."
"Where's this coming from?"
Itachi narrowed his eyes, "My concern for my sister. She tries to hide it, but it's clear as day to me that your demands stress her out."
"I'm sorry, Itachi, who do you think you are, asking-"
"I'm not asking you anything," Itachi interrupted, his eyes flashing red, "I'm telling you to stop being so harsh."
Maeko scowled, but eventually nodded.
"Hm, I'll lighten up on your sister, because you asked, now get out and don't think you'll be able to speak to me like this again."
Itachi nodded, leaving the room as he deactivated his Sharingan. He couldn't stop Fugaku from being so harsh with Sasuke, but if he could make life easier for his sister, even by a little bit, then he do so, even if it meant fracturing the relationship, loose as it may be, between himself and Maeko.
A/N: Hope you all liked Chapter 4. Itachi continues his training at Sir Nighteye's Agency, attains the second tomoe for his Sharingan, meets Bubble Girl and gets his first glimpse of hero on villain action, despite how short it may've been. For those hoping for the story to get to the proper, canon stuff at UA, you'll only have to wait past the next chapter (or the one after that).