2 - Resettlement
Sasuke's wails blended with the chaos around them as Itachi secured his arms around his baby brother and ran out of their house. People streamed past them from every direction, crashing into Itachi's shoulders and nearly knocking him down. Yet nobody even glanced his way as families stood frozen beside their ruined homes, children screamed for their parents, and shinobi rushed onto rooftops with their eyes full of terror.
"All civilians evacuate to the southeast shelter!"
Itachi heard the order over the roaring wind and quickly turned into a narrow side street, not wanting to be trampled by the adults on the main road as they scrambled towards safety.
Jogging to avoid jostling Sasuke, Itachi was halfway to the shelter when he spotted a girl he recognized from school in an alley. She was wandering in the wrong direction, crying for her father, and Itachi raised his hand to call to her when a large shadow appeared in the sky—a boulder!—and hurtled towards the house beside her.
"Izumi!" Itachi warned, and the girl whipped back with wide, teary eyes while he pushed chakra into his feet, increasing his speed as he ran to her. He caught Izumi's wrist, dragging her out of the alley and leaping behind a stone wall right as a deafening crash resounded behind them.
Izumi screamed, Sasuke wailed, but Itachi simply held them close while debris flew through the air and fell around them.
Only once the resulting dust storm subsided did Itachi release Izumi. Though the trembling girl continued holding his shirt end while he led her through the streets until they came across a line of civilians on the sidewalk heading towards the shelter.
Up ahead Itachi saw his father standing beside two fellow Police Force members guiding the civilians. His parent caught his eye as he left Izumi and ran to him, but Itachi didn't give him a chance to speak as he rushed. "I can't find Akemi."
Panic bled from his tone, stunning Fugaku who'd never seen such naked fear on his son's face. Yet the man hid his concern while he said, "Akemi is alright. I know he is, like I knew you would be."
The fear remained on Itachi's face, his chest rising and falling unnaturally and eyes shimmering with worry.
Fugaku frowned, seeing his attempt at reassurance fail, but he merely said, "Get to the shelter quickly." He turned aside. "Your priority is protecting Sasuke. Let me handle finding Akemi."
The man was certain he'd correctly anticipated and curbed Itachi's desire to run off in search of his twin when his son's lips pressed together and reluctance overshadowed the terror in his eyes. However, the boy's gaze fell on the sniffling baby in his arms and soon all traces of reluctance fled him.
"Hai, Tou-san." Itachi turned and sprinted after the group of fleeing civilians, his eyes leaping from one boy to the next in the crowd and heart skipping a beat every time he glimpsed raven orbs beneath strands of black hair.
Yet none of the boys were Akemi, and once he climbed the steps to the cave shelter and still didn't find his twin among the throngs of people huddling inside, Itachi's hope sunk like a capsizing ship.
He almost ran back out, longing to see his missing sibling safe, but knew a rash search in this havoc would only put himself and Sasuke at risk. So Itachi hunkered down in the cave, clutched his baby brother close, and held tight to the faith his father expressed in Akemi's wellbeing.
Izumi found him in the darkness, her clammy hand seizing his shirt corner like it was her lifeboat amidst a tempest while Sasuke cries echoed throughout the cavern.
However, Itachi barely noticed either as he watched the cave entrance unblinkingly, waiting for his twin to stride through the door with his usual crinkled-eye smile and teasingly ask, "Were you worried, Nii-san?"
Itachi waited minute after minute, hour after hour...
He never came.
.
The Nine-Tails' distant roars and the shelter entrance's rattling gradually died away until they disappeared entirely.
The attack had ended and the civilians were released from the shelters once a path had been cleared so they could safely return to whatever remained of their homes. Izumi unclasped her death grip on Itachi's shirt and ran off once she spotted her mother standing by the crater that used to be their house. She might have muttered words of gratitude before leaving, but Itachi couldn't hear a sound as he continued walking with hollow eyes.
Sasuke was sleeping in his arms after having cried himself to exhaustion, yet Itachi hardly noticed him, just like he didn't notice the splintered wood and shattered glass where stores and homes once stood. Nor did he see the haggard people beside him as they cried out for loved ones and received only silence in return.
Itachi stumbled over rubble he couldn't feel, oblivious to the heat wafting off the earth from earlier fires and the sour scent their ashes left in the crisp October breeze.
The boy didn't even hear the sound of feet pounding in his direction until his mother engulfed him in her arms, her stomach pillowing his head while her relieved tears fell upon his hair like rain.
"Are you alright, Itachi?" His mother quickly pulled herself together and moved back to set her hands on his shoulders, her raven orbs running over his body. "Is Sasuke okay?"
She crouched to better exam her children, frowning when she noticed the dazed look on her eldest's face. "Itachi?" She cupped his cheek with one hand, gently tilting his face until his eyes met hers. "Itachi?"
Her worry skirted across the surface of his mind, and the five-year old slowly dragged himself out of his trance to rasp. "Where—" The lump in his throat cut off his words, so he he swallowed and tried again. "Where is my brother?"
His parent's face washed itself of emotion, and an iron ball of dread settled in Itachi's gut. Mother only ever looked so unemotional when she was feeling the exact opposite.
"Kaa-san?" Itachi's voice cracked as his mother stood, her face inscrutable.
"He's alive." She slipped her hand into Itachi's and squeezed it reassuringly, yet her words lodged something cold and sharp into his heart.
For they only confirmed Akemi survived, not that he was safe or unharmed, and even at the tender age of five Itachi knew one could survive plenty of horrendous things and live.
His mother tugged him forward, and Itachi, dreading, followed.
.
They went to the hospital, his mother leading him up the stairs while explaining it was chakra exhaustion. Akemi had suffered severe chakra exhaustion.
Itachi tentatively entered his brother's room, taking in the barren walls and the gray wires sloping down from a heart monitor, which he trailed to a slight figure drowning in white sheets on the bed.
Itachi had seen something like this before, seen children his age buried in white. Baby fat still rounding their cheeks and tiny hands seeking another's to hold.
All of them dead.
Itachi swallowed the lump in his throat, but still struggled to breathe while he approached his twin's bedside.
"I lent him some of my chakra when I woke up. If I hadn't, Akemi would have..." Sarutobi Biwako whispered to his mother somewhere down the hall, unaware Itachi's keen ears were picking up most of their exchange.
Itachi did his best to block them out as he stood on his tiptoes until he could see his brother's face.
Akemi looked exhausted, dark smudges circling his eyes, skin pale, and a frown curving his lips while he slept. Though besides that his twin almost looked peaceful, not stiff and silent like those children in the grave.
Itachi pulled himself up onto the bed and curled around his brother. He latched onto his wrist, rested their joined hands on Akemi's stomach and laid his head on his brother's chest. His twin inhaled, torso elevating Itachi's head and lowering it as he exhaled. The cycle repeated while Itachi checked Akemi's pulse along his wrist and listened carefully to the heart beating beneath his ear.
Not dead. Not dead. I'm not dead, Nii-san.
Akemi's every breath told Itachi, and the older boy whispered back. "You can't die, Akemi. You can't ever die, understand?"
Itachi didn't expect a reply to such a lofty request, and didn't care for one either. Just as long as air filled Akemi's lungs, that was promise enough.
Yet, as if hearing him, Akemi's lips twitched and he softly exhaled.
Itachi's head jerked up, eyes widening while Akemi whispered. "Obi...to..."
Itachi gasped, for that was a name his brother hadn't said in ages.
Akemi's mouth fell close and he drifted off again, but there was a slight crease in his brow as he seemed to dream of a boy long gone.
.
Gray wisps stirred around swollen, black clouds in the sky above ten-year old Uchiha Obito.
The dock creaked while the preteen slid his feet into position, performed the necessary hand signs, and puffed up his cheeks before unleashing a stream of fire across the lake.
He didn't stop, even as he felt the air thinning in his lungs and embers lashing at his tongue. The Chunin Exams were tomorrow, so his fireball needed to be in top form if he wanted to stand a chance against the other participants.
And if his flashy fireball happened to impress Rin, that would be a totally unintentional bonus.
The flaming maelstrom gradually dispersed until only tendrils of smoke passed Obito's lips and the boy dropped to one knee, huffing and puffing with sweat racing down his face. He was beaming despite it all, for that had been his strongest fireball yet, and when Rin saw it she would be so amazed she'd forget all about Bakakashi!
...Not that this was his goal or anything...
A splash interrupted his daydream and Obito blinked as water arched through the air, drizzling over his toes while long ripples extended across the lake from over a dozen feet away.
"Huh?" Obito stood, head cocking. Was someone skipping stones out here?
He pushed up his googles to rest over his forehead while surveying the shoreline. There wasn't a soul in sight, so he stretched out his senses, but still found no one around.
Obito folded his arms and hummed, glaring at the floor. Maybe it had been a fish, for who else would be out here when the sky was threatening to pour any min—
A child's wail pierced the atmosphere and Obito's head whipped up just in time to glimpse a tiny hand flailing above the dark waters before sinking beneath the surface.
Obito gasped, but didn't think twice as he dove into the lake.
...
When Obito showed up twenty minutes late to practice, Rin was the first to turn to him with an exasperated sigh and her pointer finger already raised to lecture, only to lose all color and inhale sharply upon seeing Obito's drenched state and the shivering toddler in his arms.
"Obito!" Rin cried, and Kakashi's head snapped back, the boy having been ignoring Obito's arrival until he registered the fear in Rin's voice.
Kakashi's eyes sharpened and widened at the sight of the soaking wet Uchiha while Rin ran over to their teammate.
"What happened!?" She hovered over the shivering pair, her hands aglow with healing chakra and eyes darting from Obito to the dark-haired toddler in his arms, uncertain who to help first.
Obito made the decision for her, holding out the whimpering toddler, which she hurriedly accepted into her arms. Although she grimaced when the child's frigid body nipped her skin, Rin hastily whispered words of comfort to the babe as Obito, face drawn and chest heaving, spoke through chittering teeth.
"I saw him d-drowning in the lake and g-got him out, but he was crying so hard he c-couldn't tell me where he lived. I h-hoped Sensei could help him." His eyes scanned over the training field, but seeing no sign of his teacher, Obito frowned. "Where's Sensei?"
"He's late too." Kakashi offered, making Obito jump as his voice came from right beside him.
"D-don't sneak up on me, baka!" Obito clenched his teeth to lessen his stutter, loathing the tremors raking his body and the way his hair drooped in unruly chunks atop his goggles. He just knew Kakashi was going to make fun of him for looking like a drowned rat, so made sure to glare extra viciously at the silver-haired boy.
However, Kakashi was staring at the shivering toddler curled against Rin's chest, the girl having already removed the child's onesie in search of injuries.
"He's not hurt." The green glow faded from Rin's hands, though her expression remained pinched. "But he might get hypothermia if we don't warm him up soon." Before she had even finished speaking, Rin was tearing off her apron-skirt and suddenly Obito wasn't cold so much as very warm.
"Idiot," Kakashi hissed, snatching Obito's shoulder and forcibly turning the boy away. "Show some respect," he added while Rin wrapped the toddler in her skirt, leaving herself in only shape-defining shorts.
Obito wanted to scream—he was so not ogling Rin!—but his rival's expression stopped him. Kakashi's eyes were narrowed and his forehead creased while he stared at his hand on Obito's shoulder.
"You're freezing," the Hatake boy muttered, concern rounding out his usual barbed tone and leaving Obito mute with shock until Kakashi looked him in the eye and ordered. "Take off your shirt."
Obito gaped, his eyes bigger than plates. "W-what the hel—"
"Obito!"
The Uchiha jerked around to see Rin glaring at him with a hand on her hip. "We do not use that language around children!" She gestured to the quiet toddler in her hold, the top of the boy's face poking out from the skirt he was swathed in as he stared at Obito.
The preteen might have noticed the analytical slant to the toddler's gaze if he wasn't so busy waving his finger at Kakashi, shouting. "It's not my fault! Bakakashi is being creepy!" His hand dropped while he side-eyed the masked boy, taking an exaggerated step back from him.
Kakashi's face hardened in response, the breeze rippling through his hair, but he said nothing as Rin agreed. "He's right, you need to take off your shirt."
Obito choked.
"And the rest of your clothes."
Obito nearly swooned.
"Otherwise, you could get hypothermia too."
Obito froze mid-flail. Then slowly he lowered his arms and said, "O-oh." His cheeks warmed, half from embarrassment and half from the fuzzy feelings drawn out by the fact Rin cared about him...that Kakashi cared too.
His dark orbs landed on his rival, and maybe some of his fuzzy feelings showed because the silver-haired boy rolled his eyes and turned his back on the Uchiha.
Barely honoring Obito with a backwards glance, Kakashi explained. "If you get sick, you'll drag us down during the exam... More than usual anyway."
All feelings of gratitude shattered, and Obito's hands clenched. He nearly let Kakashi have it when a soppy, baby blue onesie struck Kakashi's shoulder with an audible plop.
In stunned silence the trio watched the wet bundle roll down the boy's arm, leaving a wet trail on his sleeve. Kakashi caught the onesie before it could hit the ground, then quirked a brow at the thrower of said item, which was the currently giggling toddler.
"Baka." The baby pointed directly at the masked boy. "Bakakashi!"
For a moment Kakashi just stared, but when snickers erupted from Obito he glowered. Though he only glared at the baby for a second before swiveling towards Obito, demanding, "What have you been teaching your cousin?"
Obito, bent over and clutching his middle, in a flash straightened up to glare back at his teammate. "What are you talking about? I don't have any cousins!"
Kakashi gave him a look that said he knew amoeba with larger brain cells than him. "I mean him." He nodded towards the toddler. "He's an Uchiha, isn't he?"
"What makes you say that?" Obito growled, getting in Kakashi's face.
"Guys—" Rin held up a hand to ward off the impending argument, to no avail.
"He has dark hair, black eyes, and it sounds like the lake you found him in was the one on the private Uchiha training grounds."
Kakashi's matter-of-fact listing of the toddler's traits grated on Obito's nerves, especially when he noticed Rin looking impressed, so despite some part of him silently admitting—I thought the kid was an Uchiha too—he yelled. "Don't be stupid! Not every Uchiha has dark hair and—"
"Rin!"
They all jumped, Kakashi's hands flying to his weapon's pouch while Rin angled her body to shield the toddler from the speaker. However, they relaxed upon catching sight of spiky blond hair and ocean blue eyes.
Obito was going to greet their teacher when Minato ran over to Rin and gasped. "You...you found him!" The man gawked at the toddler who greeted him with a tired grin.
Their sensei didn't smile back, simply continuing to stare slack-jawed at the boy until Obito drawled. "Uhhh, what do you mean found?"
Minato turned to Obito, his expression tamping into mild surprise. "He's Uchiha Akemi," Obito's face lit up with recognition, "One of the clan heirs. He went missing an hour ago."
Minato's eyes shone with sympathy. "His parents found his footprints leading to a lake, and when they couldn't find him on the docks, they started to fear the worst."
He reached out and Rin obligingly handed over the toddler who mumbled drowsily as the man cradled him. "That's why I was late, everyone was called in and asked to be on the lookout for this little guy."
"Well, don't thank me." Rin laced her hands behind her back, grinning and nodding towards her teammate. "It was Obito who saved Akemi from drowning."
Obito blushed while Minato looked surprised before beaming at the boy. "Good job, Obito! I'll be sure to tell the clan head who he can thank for saving his son."
He turned to the child slumbering in his grasp and his lips firmed into a line. "Let's put training on hold for an hour. While I get Akemi back to his parents you guys can—" He paused, suddenly noticing Obito's dripping hair, Kakashi's damp arm and Rin's missing skirt. "Caaan freshen up at home before returning here."
Their instructor waited to hear their agreement before taking off. Rin left right after with a cheery farewell, and Obito expected Kakashi to slink off while he was waving her goodbye, so got a good scare when the silver-haired boy turned out to still be next to him.
Before Obito could figure out how to react, Kakashi tossed the wet onesie at him, which the Uchiha scrambled to catch. "You can give that back to your cousin." Kakashi moved to leave, but abruptly stopped and sent Obito a critical look. "Did your clothes dry?"
"Huh?" Obito glanced down at himself, and was taken aback by the lack of damp spots on his person. "Oh," he shrugged, "Guess the wind dried it." He suddenly smirked at his rival, and pointing his thumb towards himself, gloated. "Ha! Bet you never saved a clan heir, huh, Bakakashi?"
He sprinted away without waiting for a response, and therefore, never saw the lack of a reaction his rival had as Kakashi gazed at the overcast sky.
After a moment of watching the clouds hardly move, the boy quietly murmured. "But it's not windy."
Kakashi stood there another minute before departing home, never putting together that the wind had stopped blowing the second Minato took Akemi away or that the earlier breeze had only blown in Obito's direction. And nobody ever did realize that the toddler had fallen asleep because he expended all of his meager chakra drying Obito off with a basic wind jutsu.
...
The drowning incident was forgotten in the wake of Obito failing the Chunin Exams, the Uchiha quickly throwing himself into training so fast and hard he forgot about all else until Rin or Minato called him away for a mission or team exercises. Kakashi's cool gaze, and the challenging smirk Obito imagined beneath his mask every time they met on the training field, was a sight that only pushed Obito to train all the more harder.
So he threw shuriken at the wooden posts until they hit dead center, performed pull-up after pull-up while perfecting his chakra control as he stood on the underside of a tree branch, and quickly lost track of the amount of burns he sustained while maximizing his fire jutsu.
Yet Obito couldn't stop. He needed to be better, needed to surpass Kakashi if ever wanted to achieve his dream.
Therefore, he trained relentlessly and never noticed he had a little follower until one day he was a bit too zealous with his chakra usage and collapsed on the forest floor.
When the Uchiha woke up though, he wasn't sprawled on his side or as sore as he expected. Instead, Obito was propped against a tree, his jacket draped over his chest like a blanket and a small campfire flickering before him.
"What...?" Obito straightened, jacket falling into his lap while his head swung from side-to-side. How did he get here? Where'd this fire come from? And how long was he out?
He looked up to the crescent moon in the sky, its silver light shimmering between the tree branches and telling him he had slept for at least an hour.
However, his other questions were still unanswered, so Obito clambered to his feet, and cupping his hands over his mouth, bellowed. "HELLOOO? IS ANYONE OUT THERE?"
He lowered his hands and waited for a response.
There was none save for a hawk's distant caw.
"Hmm," Obito crossed his arms and closed his eyes, grumbling as he struggled to stretch out his senses in search of his mysterious helper.
"You shouldn't use chakra so soon."
"Ahh!" Obito jumped and backpedaled, his foot catching on a weed and sending him tumbling onto his back.
The Uchiha groaned while a childish voice above him muttered. "Told you so."
Head swimming, Obito silently agreed that using his chakra to detect other chakra signatures so soon after fainting from chakra exhaustion might have been a bad idea.
"Are you okay?" asked the murky shadow perched on a low tree branch above him, and Obito shook his head until the shadow solidified into a familiar dark-haired child.
"Hey..." The preteen squinted, gingerly pushing himself into a sitting position while the toddler observed him. "Aren't you that kid I saved?" He struggled to dredge up the boy's name, recalling his grandmother once gushing over how cute the clan head's sons were, but he was unable to remember her saying their names.
Realizing he was getting nowhere, Obito forced a laugh and rubbed the back of his head. "Hehe...so what are you doing up there?" he asked to prevent the toddler from noticing he couldn't think of his name.
The child grinned, and pumping his arm in the air, announced. "Shugyō!"
Obito's brows rose. "Training?" he repeated in shock, leaning back on his palms. Was it normal for a toddler to be training by himself? Obito certainly hadn't started so young, but then again, Obito never had parents to teach him like most clan kids. Also the boy was a clan heir, which meant he was expected to be better than the average Uchiha his age, so maybe it was normal.
The toddler, perhaps tired of being ignored, suddenly sprung off the branch and plummeted to the earth.
"Gah!" Obito lurched up like a rocket and just managed to catch the giggling child a foot over the dirt floor.
"Nice reflexes!" The toddler clapped his hands as if Obito had put on a particularly entertaining show, and breathless from shock, the preteen didn't immediately react, but soon he scowled.
"Hey, are you crazy? You could have hurt yourself!" He glared at the brat who he could swear was smirking at him, which was a strange sight on such a youthful face. Weren't toddlers supposed to be more oblivious than this?
The child flashed his teeth and whipped his pointer finger right in front of Obito's face. "Nu-uh! Obito will always protect Akemi." The goggled Uchiha gasped, pupils dilating while the boy—Akemi's words resonated in his head. "I wanna be like Obito-sama, wanna protect people too!" He lowered his hand, eyes narrowing on Obito like he was daring the preteen to disagree with him.
"Y-you..." Obito's lips flapped open and close while the oxygen ceased flowing to his lungs because...because...Obito had a fan!?
Dazed, Obito whispered. "You really mean that?"
"Mhm!" Akemi nodded, face alight with determination. "Let's train hard, Obito-sama!"
The child grinned, and hopefully didn't notice Obito tearing up as his fist punched the sky while he shouted. "Hai!"
Firelight reflected in their eyes, tinging their irises gold as a bond formed between them, twining the two eternally.
...
Akemi didn't visit Obito often over the next few years. Though maybe that was what made the moments they did share so memorable. Their final time together playing frequently in Obito's mind, having been forged when Obito had recently turned thirteen.
He'd just arrived to the training grounds, but didn't get to set a single foot on the grass before Kakashi was staring him down with gray eyes a steely silver and teeth gritted so hard Obito saw their indentation through his mask.
"You," Kakashi hissed, and Obito couldn't stop the squeak from escaping him as he leaned away from his teammate.
"Y-yeah?" Obito gulped while Kakashi leaked enough killing intent to make his legs shake and forehead perspire. He surreptitiously looked around for help, yet neither Rin nor Minato-sensei were around as Obito hadn't just arrived on time, but arrived early.
And now he would pay for this crime against the natural order of things with his blood according to Kakashi's raging chakra.
"I don't know what game you're playing." Kakashi narrowed his eyes, and for once, Obito found not being able to see his full expression downright terrifying. "But it ends now."
"G-game?"
Obito was truly bewildered as Kakashi growled. "You will stop dropping your cousin off at my place during all hours of the night, you will teach the brat that sharing is not always caring, and you will get. him. off. me. now."
Obito was nodding so fervently to every demand, despite not understanding any of them, he didn't see the dark-haired child coiled around Kakashi's arm like a snake until the masked boy held out his limb. Even then Obito waited for the Hatake to rein in his killing intent before daring to move.
"S-sorry, Kakashi." Obito breathed a bit easier now that he was sure his rival wouldn't dismember him. "I had no idea Akemi was bugging you so much." He forced a cheesy grin, and Kakashi snorted in disbelief while Obito reached out to grab the clan heir under his armpits and give him a tug.
Akemi, expressionless, didn't budge.
Kakashi's chakra flared threateningly and Obito suddenly imagined the earth rising like a tidal wave and crashing over him under the command of his rival's earth jutsu.
"N-now, Akemi-kun," Obito sent the clan heir a strained smile, "I know you don't want your favorite cousin to be buried alive—"
"You won't be breathing when I bury you."
Obito ignored Kakashi's threat and gave Akemi another tug. "Come on!" He gritted his teeth, using his full weight to pull. "Let go!"
Akemi giggled, undoubtedly using chakra to stay fused to Kakashi's elbow, and the masked teen's eyes smoldered until Obito tossed up his hands. "That's it!"
Obito latched onto Akemi's sides and threw himself back with every ounce of his strength.
Then he fell on his bottom while lobbing a wide-eyed Kakashi over his head and into the air.
Obito gasped, watching in horror as his teammate and cousin flew up high before dropping down fast. However, the Hatake reacted quickly, tucking his arm close to his chest and curling protectively over the boy attached to it.
Yet to his shock, Akemi smirked, and in a puff of smoke, switched places with a log.
Wide-eyed and thrown off by the weight shift, Kakashi hit the grass in an awkward roll and crashed headfirst into a nearby tree stump.
Kakashi wasn't hurt so much as nursing a bruised ego when he plucked himself from the grass, abandoning the log. Though the goggle-wearing Uchiha who was cracking up so hard he was literally rolling in the grass, wouldn't realize the other teen was still conscious until Kakashi was lunging at him.
...
By the time Minato found the pair, Rin had already tended to Obito's fractured arm and was now fixing up Kakashi's black eye.
The jonin sentenced them both to D-rank missions for a week, and the teens refused to acknowledge each other for days. However, Obito eventually marched up to Kakashi on the fourth day, waved his trash picker in the Hatake's face, and boasted he could pick up more litter than him.
Kakashi at first didn't grace him with a response, and Obito's face fell, wondering if the Hatake was genuinely upset with him until Kakashi sighed. "I suppose if it gets this menial mission done faster..."
The masked boy swung around and for a second Obito thought he was going to punch him, but Kakashi's trash picker merely stabbed a scrap of paper by Obito's feet.
"Hey!" The goggled boy sputtered while Kakashi deposited the trash in his own garbage bag. "That was mines!"
Kakashi crossed his arms and huffed. "Then I guess you better hurry before I pick this street clean."
Obito's mouth fell open in shock, but soon he tilted his head back and sneered. "Right back at you!"
The teens dove into their litter-picking with renewed vigor, so caught up in their match they didn't notice Akemi sitting in the tree above the road watching them. Together, the duo continued cleaning the streets even as the sun dipped into the horizon, its rich orange rays dyeing Obito's clothes until the Uchiha gleamed a radiant gold as he flittered across the street.
It was an image that haunted Kakashi every time he visited the memorial stone.
And one of the last ones screaming through Obito's head as he tossed Kakashi out the way and the rocks came tumbling down.
.
Mother was nursing Sasuke in another room when Akemi's face shuddered.
In an instant Itachi was out of his chair and leaning over the bed, breath abated while Akemi's eyes fluttered, closed, and fluttered once more. However, Akemi groaned, eyes shutting, and terrified his brother wouldn't wake up again if he fell asleep now, Itachi called. "Akemi?"
His twin didn't react, and desperation leaking into his voice, Itachi repeated. "Akemi?"
Finally obsidian orbs opened, dull and glassy, though they gradually cleared as Akemi's head flopped to the side and he stared at Itachi.
For a second the twins simply observed each other, but then recognition crossed the younger's face and his eyes started running over Itachi frantically, and his brother wanted to scold him—he was not the one who nearly died.
Akemi seemed to read his thoughts, ceasing his search and exhaling softly. "Sorry, didn't mean to worry you," his eyes lowered reverently, "Nii-san."
And there was something about hearing that title, hearing someone acknowledge Itachi as big brother like no one, not even Sasuke yet, could that snapped all semblance of his self-control.
He dragged Akemi off the bed and into his arms, making his twin gasp as he cradled the back of his head and angled it down until their foreheads touched. Itachi didn't speak, nor did Akemi, somehow his twin always knowing exactly what he needed—and to think he nearly lost his precious brother!
Itachi sucked in air through his teeth, eyes squeezing close while he treasured the fact Akemi was here and alive. Not dead.
Never dead.
Two minutes passed before Itachi let him go and pulled back, his emotions under lock and key once more.
Akemi didn't question it as his brother moved on, saying, "You've been out for fifteen hours, it's nearly two in the afternoon."
He assumed Akemi recalled the events of last night, and was proven correct when his brother grew alarmed. "Are you okay? Is Sasuke? Mom and Dad?"
Itachi nodded, and upon Akemi's asking, recounted his experience during the attack. It was easy stating the facts, so much easier than examining the questions plaguing his mind.
Just where had Akemi been during the attack? Shikaku-san said he left his place over an hour before the Nine-Tails got loose, so why hadn't the boy returned home? And what had Akemi been doing when he got hurt? No one would tell Itachi, merely stating Akemi was knocked out by falling debris, something that maybe true, but did not explain how Akemi came to suffer chakra exhaustion.
Had his brother been trying to use a jutsu to protect himself? Or to save others only to overtax himself in the process?
Itachi didn't think so, not when he recalled his revelation on the porch last night. Akemi might have foresight, may have even foreseen the Nine-Tails getting loose. So maybe...maybe Akemi had been trying to prevent the attack?
"Woah," Akemi gasped, eyes and mouth wide with childish wonder once Itachi wrapped up his tale. "You're telling me not only did you protect Sasuke by yourself, saved your future waifu—I mean, some pretty girl," Itachi wondered how he knew what Izumi looked like, "And made it to the shelter all on your own, without a scratch?"
Itachi blinked slowly. "Yes."
Stars shined in Akemi's eyes, and that was Itachi's only warning before his brother glomped him. "You're so cool, Nii-san!" Akemi gushed with Itachi shocked still in his arms. "You're so brave and talented, and I bet you looked awesome last night!"
Itachi's face reddened near imperceptibly while Akemi pulled back to beam at him. "You're the best big brother ever!"
Itachi looked away, used to being praised for his skills and intellect, but unused to being hero-worshiped by his own brother.
"I...I'm sure you were brave too," Itachi said just to get attention off him before his cheeks caught on fire.
However, Akemi's smile suddenly dimmed and he seemed to want to say something when their mother entered the room.
"Kaa-san!" Akemi let him go, running up to and embracing his startled parent as well as greeting the baby in her arms.
"Akemi." Mother's voice was warm and her smile watery. Although, she was clearly trying to be stern when she laid her hand on Akemi's head, saying, "You shouldn't be up yet."
"Oh, don't worry, I feel fine!" Akemi didn't let her respond as he took Sasuke off her hands and the baby let out a happy shriek.
"Aw, did you miss me, Sasuke?" Akemi chuckled while the infant stretched his tiny arms until he caught hold of Akemi's wide collar and gave it a tug like he wanted to bring his brother closer. "And here I thought you only liked me because you were mistaking me for Itachi," he teased, and Mother laughed.
Itachi smiled at seeing his family reuniting, his shoulders lowering as tension he didn't even notice himself carrying departed at last.
They soon left the hospital room after Biwako-sama gave Akemi a clean bill of health, and both twins held their mother's hands while they walked down the hall. However, the woman paused as they passed the hospital's nursery, her dark eyes catching on a blond-haired infant in a cradle behind the glass.
"Kushina..." Their mother whispered gravely.
"I'm sorry, Naruto..."
Itachi turned to Akemi, recognizing the sorrow in his voice despite Akemi speaking a foreign tongue, but his twin didn't notice as he stared at the same newborn his mother was observing. It was only once they moved away that Itachi saw the guilt marring Akemi's face, but he didn't ask what had upseted his brother while they left the building. They had more important things to focus on now, so let his brother keep his secrets.
At least, for a while.
.
Fugaku rubbed his temples to ease the pressure building there while he again surveyed the area outside the relocated Uchiha district.
There wasn't much Fugaku could do at this point. Most of the houses had already been built and some families were starting to moving in.
Hn...to think suspicion and baseless accusations against his noble clan could lead to this...
"Tou-san?"
Fugaku started, thinking Itachi had returned despite having left less than five minutes ago, but when he looked back it was Akemi standing in the middle of the stone path. There was a secretive smile on the boy's face and an awkwardness to his gait as he approached him, one the man would say stemmed from shyness in a normal child, but normal was a term he kept far from Akemi.
"What is it?" Fugaku asked more curtly than intended, his headache making it hard to remain stoic.
Akemi stopped beside him and leaned back to take in the skyline Fugaku was observing. After a beat, he said, "The Uchiha compound is surrounded."
Fugaku's head jerked towards his child in shock, whose eyes sought his earnestly. "I'm not sure what that means, but it feels like an omen."
The man tensed, for how could one so young have reached the same conclusions as him?
Akemi suddenly brightened. "But that's okay! Because you still have time to register the Uchiha clan for the Family Exchange Program."
Fugaku's face wrinkled with confusion. "The what?"
Akemi's expression went blank. Then in a snap his eyes blazed, and hands on his sides, he scowled. "You don't know about the Family Exchange Program!?" He threw up his arms. "I've been talking about it since I was three!"
The man might have bristled at the sass in Akemi's tone, but witnessing the boy's rare show of anger distracted him while his son held up his index finger and quoted from what sounded like a legal document. "To prevent the horrific results of clan inbreeding—"
"How many times do I have to tell you we don't marry close relatives?"
"From affecting Konoha's next generation," Akemi continued like he hadn't heard him, "Members of all clans who are unmarried, and seeking romantic companionship outside of their own clan, are encouraged to enter the Family Exchange Program. All participants, including clan members already wedded to clanless partners or those from a clan different from their own, will be provided housing among a clan of their choosing as long as they meet the qualifications determined by each clan head."
"It is our hope that the Family Exchange Program will not only unite the citizens of Konoha like never before, but shall increase the chances of new Kekkei Genkai formation in the offspring produced by Program participants. If you have any questions, please visit your clan head for further direction."
Fugaku gazed at his son, feeling very much like he opened the door to find a very pushy salesman on the other side. Akemi's face returned to its default placid expression while he waited for Fugaku to compose himself, which became increasingly difficult once the name of the Program rang a bell in his head.
"Wait..." Fugaku looked up, eyes widening as he recalled a moment from months ago.
Fugaku had heard about the Family Exchange Program way back during the same meeting he'd been told the Uchiha clan was being relocated. Councilman Danzō hadn't sounded happy when he mentioned the Family Exchange Program was moving forward, and they were adding a group of houses to numerous clan settlements for Program participants to live in. Fugaku had been so upset over his clan's forced relocation, he'd barely given the Program a second thought.
"So you see, Tou-san." Akemi drew him from his thoughts, expression determined. "If you enter the clan into the Program, some Uchiha would get to live outside the compound." Fugaku's brow furrowed, recognizing how Akemi was linking the Uchiha relocation to the Program. "Send only the civilian members if you're worried about the Sharingan being stolen, but I must say there are a number of laws written in the Program contract protecting all clans from Kekkei Genkai theft."
Fugaku's eyes narrowed at the boy, the man no longer sure what he was looking at.
"Besides," Akemi didn't notice his father's look, "If worst comes to worst, wouldn't you rather some of the clan survive?"
The question struck an unsettling chord in Fugaku, for while it was posed as hypothetical, the way Akemi said it made the worst sound inevitable.
"Wouldn't it be better to have mixed Uchiha rather than no Uchiha carrying our clan into the future?"
Fugaku's jaw tightened as he thought hard. If his clan entered the Family Exchange Program, some Uchiha would fall under the umbrella of another clan, and while some people may be willing to take advantage of the recent distrust towards the Uchiha and mistreat them, few would be so bold as to threaten say a Nara or Hyūga.
It was a good idea, a perfect plan, almost like the Family Exchange Program had been made just for them...
"How did you convince the Council?" Fugaku asked warily, wondering how he had missed his son creating a Program of such magnitude. Then again, he didn't interact with Akemi nearly as much as he did Itachi, and the middle child rarely came to him for anything beyond training advice.
Akemi shrugged. "Shikaku-san is my friend, Akimichi-san agreed in exchange for the recipes to Latino dishes I've had him taste test, Kakashi just wanted to get me to shut up, the Yamanaka marry outside their clan fairly often already, Kushina heard about it from Mom and got really excited about it." A wistful look crossed the boy's face before he continued. "And me and Hiashi-san have great talks."
"Hn." The clan head grunted to cover up how shaken he was by the words of what was supposed to be a nearly six-year old, but no...no way a mere child had achieved so much...
Akemi misinterpreted his silence as a request for elaboration. "It all began when I met Hiashi-san at a udon stand, and asked him if he agreed that Uchiha were vampires—"
Fugaku held up his hand and the boy obediently quieted. The man felt torn between shooing the child—if Akemi truly was one—away and demanding Akemi explain how he knew so much.
Knew too much.
However, his wife robbed him of the choice by calling Akemi in for lunch, leaving Fugaku to sort through the mess in his head on his own. His second son was proving to be the source of a hundred mysteries, and Fugaku couldn't ignore the boy's strangeness anymore. Not when the child had established connections to nearly every clan in Konoha, and was even on friendly terms with the Third Hokage's wife.
Then there was the medical report Fugaku received the night Akemi was brought to the hospital during the Nine-Tails attack. Akemi had suffered chakra exhaustion and mild bruising, nothing too worrying until one read that Akemi's eyes showed signs of chakra strain. Many Uchiha had experienced a similar phenomena that night, but all of them had developed the Sharingan while Akemi showed no sign of possessing their bloodline limit.
Fugaku wasn't sure what this meant, wasn't sure what any of this meant, but certainly, he was going to find out.
Thanks to the overwhelming support you guys gave the first chapter, I managed to get this chapter done early :D
Next time find out what exactly happened to Akemi during the Nine-Tails attack.
Until then, stay safe!