4 - Re-educate
"This is going to be so fun!" Akemi pumped his arms in front of his chest while their family left the Academy Entrance Ceremony.
Mother grinned at him, especially radiant in her cream white dress, while Fugaku eyed the six-year old irritatedly. "The Academy is not a game, Akemi." He grunted, folding his arms. "I expect you to achieve high marks in all your classes, and for you to bring honor to the Uchiha name."
Mother's smile turned frosty, but Akemi didn't notice as he spoke to Itachi. "Aren't you excited, Nii-san? The Academy is going to be our greatest adventure yet, I just know it!"
He beamed, and Itachi gently smiled back. "Hai." He was eager to learn new ninjutsu, and acquire more knowledge about the shinobi world they lived in.
Which was why Itachi was so disappointed merely two weeks into the school year, as every taijutsu course taught him skills he'd long since mastered, and academic classes like math and reading rarely imparted new knowledge to him. It was a vexing predicament, one only worsened by his fellow classmates.
Their eyes full of awe and wonder, anger and resentment, followed Itachi everywhere. He ignored them for the most part, too lost in his thoughts to even notice sometimes, but it was his kind twin who proved to be his greatest buffer.
Akemi talked more than usual whenever they strode through the Academy halls, and it wasn't long before Itachi realized Akemi was doing it for him. When the girls squealed and waved while the boys jeered and catcalled, Akemi rambling, "-shirts with both clan crests for the Family Exchange Program look super cool," caused all their childish voices to fade and blend into the background.
Then in the classroom, it soon became apparent Itachi wasn't the only one not benefiting from the school curriculum. For although Akemi was never anything except verbally polite to teachers, it was clear from day one he never payed attention to their lectures and merely skimmed the titles of in-class reading assignments before setting them down. Instead, Akemi spent most of the school day sketching on his pad or reading a medical textbook.
At first the teacher must have thought Akemi a slouch, calling often on his twin in order to catch him off guard. Yet, Akemi would always lift his eyes from his book, examine the blackboard, and then simply and correctly answer every question written on it. By the time the teacher responded, Akemi had returned to his reading while the man sputtered, "T-that's correct, Akemi."
It was obvious Akemi never knew what specific question the teacher was asking, but it was also clearly of no consequence to the boy if he wasn't paying attention, and Itachi found it oddly reassuring to see someone else completing class assignments in under a minute.
Unfortunately, the same could not be said during taijutsu and ninjutsu practice.
Akemi was good, top of their class good, and never failed to beat his opponent during a sparing match. However, his shuriken didn't always hit dead center on the target board, sometimes striking right outside the black circle, and while Akemi never took a hit during a match, sometimes his moves were slow enough for his sparring partner to dodge them. So while Akemi was advanced, and in some academics even surpassed Itachi, his brother still made mistakes, enough mistakes to make him seem normal.
Too normal.
"You're holding back," Itachi said while they walked the path home.
"Not against you." Akemi replied, flashing his teeth.
He smiled back, resolving not to bring up the topic again. Akemi didn't keep secrets from him, so if his brother hadn't brought up his holding back against Academy students, there was good reason for it, and Itachi trusted Akemi to explain once the time was right.
Besides, Itachi enjoyed their private little competitions whenever the teacher handed them a homework sheet and Akemi sent him that challenging smirk. How their pencils flew across the paper as they raced to see who could finish first. Their teacher and classmates always looked so gobsmacked whenever he and Akemi stopped to set the homework the teacher had just passed out on his desk before heading home.
Therefore, school might have been a disappointment, but it was rarely boring with Akemi at his side. Though, Itachi didn't appreciate the envious glares some of the boys sent Akemi's way, or how the girls fell over themelsves in an attempt to sit next to them. However, Itachi needn't worry about this long, as he woke up one morning to find Akemi had already left for school.
He found Akemi in class, sitting in their usual spot, but when Itachi sat next to him, a girl in the back row shrieked. "I'm sitting next to Itachi and Akemi!"
Itachi mentally braced himself while a blonde girl smacked the shrieker upside her head, growling. "No, I am!"
"Now, girls," the teacher held up his hands, eyes imploring though his smile was nervous.
SMACK!
The teacher jumped, the girls screamed, and the boys walking into the room nearly fell over in their haste to stop.
Itachi regarded Akemi in confusion, but his brother was staring at the teacher, his hand still flat on the the table where he had smacked it.
"A-Akemi?" The teacher eyed the boy uncertainly, for the Uchiha was never one to cause a ruckus.
"Is is true?" Akemi whispered, expression eerily blank while gray clouds blew in over the school outside.
"Is what true?" The teacher arched a brow as the other children shared puzzled glances.
Akemi was quiet a moment, then, voice tremulous, said, "The rumors, the whispers," his voice dipped so low Itachi wouldn't have heard him if he wasn't sitting beside him, and all the students around them needed to lean in to hear. "Could they be true? Is she here?"
The teacher, appearing deeply disturbed, asked, "Is who here?"
Akemi hesitated, appeared to steel himself, and finally hissed. "La Chancla."
The entire room seemed to tremble with the force of his words, and it took Itachi a second to realize Akemi was leaking low level killing intent. However, his classmates, having never experienced such a thing, merely sensed an ominous atmosphere suddenly sweeping across the room.
The teacher's eyes narrowed, the man quickly scanning the area for the source of killing intent since it couldn't possibly be from any of the children, they simply weren't advanced enough yet.
"I heard La Chancla was coming to the Academy, returning to this very classroom..." Akemi intoned, the dark clouds outside casting shadows over his eyes.
The teacher refocused on him, face a bit pale since he couldn't pinpoint the source of the killing intent.
"You see, La Chancla was a mother of two children who used to attend this Academy." Akemi raised two fingers, "One boy," he lowered one digit, and the boys screamed as the classroom door slammed shut behind them, making them scramble towards the back of the room. "And one girl," he lowered his second finger and the girls shrieked as the lights flickered above them.
Itachi stared out the window on his left, wondering if lightning had caused the brief power shortage while Akemi continued. "La Chancla loved her children dearly, so much so, that when they drowned in a river, she convinced herself they were still alive. Since the only thing that remained of her children were their sandals, she started talking to the shoes like they were her son and daughter. At first, she only talked to them for a few minutes every day, but soon she spoke to the sandals more than she spoke to anyone else. Eventually, La Chancla grew so attached to those pairs of sandals, she started to believe they really were her children, and even convinced the Academy principal to let them attend class."
Thunder cracked outside and Itachi couldn't tell who screamed louder, the students or the teacher, the man hastily straightening up and coughing into his fist to cover up his reaction.
"So every morning La Chancla handed her precious sandals to a teacher, and he would set them on two chairs in the middle of this very room." Akemi gestured to their surroundings. "All was well until one day," the students leaned in as Akemi whispered, "The sandals went missing."
A girl gasped, her hands slapping over her mouth, and Akemi frowned grimly. "Till this day, nobody knows what happened to the sandals. Did a child steal them when the teacher wasn't looking? Were they mistakenly taken to Lost and Found? Regardless, La Chancla was devastated by the news, and in her despair, she soon lost her mind. In a rampage she entered the Academy, burst into this classroom, and started stealing the children's shoes, stealing them in the order of one girl, one boy, one girl, one boy..." All the students glanced at their sandals to make sure they were still there. "The teacher tried to stop her, but she would always shunshin away before he could catch her. So La Chancla kept returning week after week, always managing to steal the shoes of one boy and one girl before the teacher could stop her, until one day, she never came back."
Lightning struck soundlessly outside, bleaching the entire student body white and littering the room with their shadows. "Some think La Chancla died, others believe she just got too old to come after them anymore, but I heard," Akemi's voice darkened menacingly, "La Chancla will return to this class," the students shuddered, "And she will come to this row," he waved to the seats by Itachi, "And if she finds at least one boy," he placed his hand over his chest, "and one girl," he turned to the blonde from earlier, who gulped, "La Chancla will not just steal their sandals." Akemi eyed everyone in the room before he swore, "She will take them too."
The door slammed open.
The lights turned off.
Chaos commenced.
"IT'S LA CHANCLA!"
"SHE'S BACK, SHE'S BACK!"
"I CAN'T LOSE MY SANDALS, I JUST BOUGHT THESE!"
"MAMA, SAVE ME!"
The teacher immediately ran up the stairs to calm the hysterical children while outside the gray clouds swiftly broke apart to reveal blue skies and a radiant sun. Itachi thought the weather shouldn't have changed so quickly.
Meanwhile, on a training field miles away, fifteen-year old Kakashi squinted up at the sky, watching the gray clouds depart.
"Huh, the Uchiha brat was right." He glanced down at his hands. "Chidori can create a lightning storm," he shrugged.
...
Suddenly a body blocked Itachi's view of the window. He looked up to see Izumi, biting her lip and trembling.
"H-Hi, Itachi-kun." Her eyes squeezed shut and she gulped, easing herself into the seat next to him with her sandaled feet twitching. Itachi greeted her back while a boy behind them stole a girl's shoe and held it up before the other boys.
"If we burn this with my sandal, maybe it will appease La Chancla."
"Stupid boy!" The blond snatched her shoe back and cracked it across the boy's face, causing the other males to cower.
Akemi didn't seem to notice as he pulled out his sketchpad and started drawing, only pausing when Izumi looked past Itachi to ask, "Are your hands okay, Akemi-kun? I thought I saw something hanging off them."
Itachi turned curiously to his brother, eyes narrowing while the puzzle pieces connected. "Chakra strings..." Itachi exhaled. Mother must have taught Akemi how to make them, his twin always had been enraptured by the little puppet shows their mom used to put on back when they were little.
Akemi smirked, nodding at him before telling Izumi. "Don't worry, you probably just glimpsed La Chancla."
Izumi stiffened at the reminder, but then she turned to Itachi, and soon determination brightened her doe-brown eyes. Izumi held her head high as she pulled out her notebook and pencils in preparation to take notes.
Itachi was surprised, but didn't say anything while he pondered how Izumi saw the chakra strings on his brother's fingers. Normal eyesight couldn't detect chakra... Unless...could Izumi have those eyes?
Itachi studied the girl more intently, wondering if there was a bit of red hiding behind those brown orbs.
.
Sarutobi Biwako sat at her desk in an office within Konoha Hospital. The sun beamed in through the window to her left, highlighting the photograph of a smiling medic-nin stapled to the file she was scrawling upon.
With a sigh, Biwako set down her pen, picked up a black marker and drew a large X over the photo. Although the medic-nin's resume was impressive, his interview had revealed the man was far too timid to handle the rigorous training Biwako had planned. He simply wasn't bold enough.
Unlike Taji.
The first knock on Biwako's office door failed to rouse the woman, Taji's chocolate brown eyes blazing across her mind.
"I won't let you down, Biwa-sensei."
Taji's melodious voice faded like a wind chime's echo as a second knock, a tad louder, resounded from the door.
Biwako shook her head, sliding the file into her desk drawer while calling, "Come in," without looking up.
The door clicked open and intentionally audible footsteps entered the room as it closed. Yet, Biwako couldn't bring herself to look away from the window, the blue sky almost cerulean from the sun's bright saturation.
"Hello, you must be the final applicant for the Apprentice position." She forced herself to face the job-seeker. "As the head of Konoha Hospital, I will be conducting your interview—" She froze, eyes flying open wide at the sight of the child sitting across from her. "Akemi-kun!?"
The Uchiha grinned, nodding. "It's nice to see you, Biwako-sama. How have you been?"
It was rude and unprofessional for a woman of her age and rank to gape so openly, and yet the Sarutobi did, stuttering. "Surely, you are not the final applicant."
Akemi squinted, glancing down at the packet atop a green folder on his lap. "Is there an age limit for the position? I checked, but the application just said it's 'highly recommended' you be sixteen or older, not that it's necessary."
Biwako regained some of her composure. "Yes, but you are required to pass the medical ninjutsu exam prior to your interview."
Akemi blinked, and without looking down, lifted the packet off his lap and slowly slid it over to her side of the desk. She dropped her eyes, and barely reigned in a gasp upon seeing 100% stamped in red atop the exam, authentic signature of the medic-nin who distributed the test printed next to the score. She also caught sight of the notes in the margin, reading, "Uchiha Akemi completed his exam in record time and has shown great aptitude in", before lifting her gaze.
The boy's smile turned wolfish. "I've also completed the mandatory medic-nin protocol classes at the hospital." He set the green folder on top of the exam. "My grades are beneath my resume."
Biwako opened the folder and skimmed over Akemi's high marks until something paradoxically cold and warm filtered through her heart, and she set it down. For a moment, the Sarutobi could only stare at the youth. Akemi's eyes likening tranquil lakes, features cool and yet unsullied by the arrogance so many of his clan members exhibited. Rather there was kindness curving his lips, deference bowing his head, and determination straightening his spine. If Biwako didn't know better, she'd think Akemi was a henged adult, but he wasn't the first child to stand in her office, brimming with potential.
"I'll push myself to the limit, and then I'll keep going!"
Taji, young and pretty in a simple beige dress, stood stiffly at attention in Biwako's office.
The Sarutobi woman, face free of frown lines as she smiled, nodded. "I believe you, Taji-chan."
"I see," Biwako allowed the twenty-year old memory to fade while she regarded Akemi seriously. "In that case, let us move on to the interview." She grabbed an application from out of her desk drawer and set it down. "Why should I accept you as my apprentice?" Her face hardened into granite. "What makes a mere child worthy of such a honorary position?"
Akemi shook his head. "I am not worthy, at least, no more worthy than the dozens of others who applied. However, despite my lack of experience and education in the medical ninjitsu field, under your guidance, I know I can go farther than any other candidate." He nodded towards his folder while the woman jotted his response on the application. "Just read the notes on my exam, I'm on the same level as some trained medic-nin despite being self-taught."
"That maybe so," Biwako interjected sharply, "But it is rare for an Uchiha to train in the medical arts. Would it not bring shame upon your father and your clan to have one of the heirs playing doctor in a hospital?"
"I don't care if it shames my father." Biwako's mask broke slightly, skin crinkling around her eyes from shock, though Akemi's tone was mild. "Being powerful and strong are important in the ninja world, I understand that," his face turned downcast, "But even the best shinobi make mistakes, and when they do, I want to be able to help them." Guilt twisted Akemi's features before he suppressed it. "I don't ever want to be a burden to anyone again. Not like...on that night."
Biwako remembered the pale little boy lying in the grassy field, ash in the air and weeds splashed with blood around him while Taji's body lied beneath splintered wood and concrete pillars behind him.
"—even if my father disapproves," Biwako refocused while Akemi stared her down, "I want to learn medical ninjutsu. I want to be able to protect those who are precious to me." Raw grief burst across the boy's face so suddenly and intensely, Biwako leaned back while Akemi's fingernails bit into his legs. "And if ever my brother should fall," he blinked back tears, "I want to be able to help him stand back up," he vowed.
Biwako observed Akemi in stunned silence for a second. Then a little smile tugged up her lips. "I can't train you."
Akemi's eyes widened, despair crushing the hope in his black orbs.
"Not until you're at least seven." Biwako chuckled at Akemi's shocked expression. "You children these days, you're all so eager to grow up, but I want you to enjoy some time simply being a kid, Akemi-kun." She sighed, turning to the window. "And if you change your mind by the time you are seven-years old, I will not hold it against you."
Akemi shook his head vehemently. "No, Biwako-sama, I won't change my mind."
Sarutobi conceeded. "If that is your wish, then bring me your Academy test scores by the end of the school year. If you are still maintaining the same high level of achievement you've shown so far, I will begin to train you."
The boy stood from his chair and bowed deeply. "I won't let you down, Biwako-sama."
"I believe you," she smiled thinly before dismissing him.
Akemi paused in the doorway, making sure it was still okay for him to visit this weekend and bake mini-cakes at her house. She reassured him, and the child left.
Now alone in her office, Biwako turned to the window and sighed. "He can't replace you, Taji-san, but perhaps, one day, he will surpass us both."
A tear rolled down Biwako's cheek and dribbled onto the desk, staining Akemi's resume.
.
Since Biwako's office was on the Hospital's top floor, Akemi took the stairs in the middle of the hall to get down. He was young and fit, far more than he'd been in his first life—he didn't miss being a twig—so was unbothered by the exercise. The boy was, however, disturbed by the dark, twisted familiar chakra suddenly flickering below him.
Akemi stopped behind the stair's support pillar, acutely aware if he rounded the corner the hospital entrance would be in sight, but so would the owner of that chakra who he'd hoped to never cross paths with again.
Yet cross paths they did, Akemi having no time to back away before the man walked up the first flight of stairs and nearly crashed into him.
"Sorry," Akemi blurted instinctively, mentally smacking himself when he realized in his nervousness he'd apologized in English. "I mean sorry!"
"It's alright, child." Akemi struggled not to flinch as he raised his head and took in the angular face of the man he'd avoided for two years.
"But tell me," Orochimaru's poison yellow eyes flared with interest, "Wherever did you learn to speak Eigoha?"
Akemi's pounding heart drowned out the Sannin's question, so it took him a second to understand Orochimaru was asking how he learned English—or apparently Eigoha as it was called in Katonese.
"I don't really speak it," a wobbly smile split Akemi's face, "I just read about it in a library book. I like reading about other lands and cultures, it's fun," he shrugged.
Orochimaru's mouth fell crooked as he said, "Then you are in luck," Akemi highly doubted that, "There is a shelf in my laboratory full of textbooks on that very subject." A trickle of curiosity welled in Akemi's heart, and it must have showed because Orochimaru's smirk broadened. "I have no interest in such things anymore, but perhaps you can still find use for them. Come." He turned and started up the staircase, his dark blue kimono brushing against Akemi's shoulder. Only now did he realize Orochimaru was dressed casually, his hitai-ate nowhere to be seen. Huh, must be his day off.
"You may explore my bookshelf to your heart's content." Orochimaru craned his neck back, waiting with rapturous attention for Akemi start following him before continuing up the steps. "In fact, you can keep any book that catches your eye."
"Really?" Akemi kept his voice tentatively hopeful as they entered the second floor corridor, scrupulously searching for someone who could get him out of this mess.
Unfortunately, the only other people out in the hall was a receptionist who was focused solely on a Nara man—according to the crest on his back—who set a box of deer antlers on her desk.
Orochimaru stopped at the end of the hall, Akemi's honed reflexes the only thing that prevented them from colliding. Quickly the man's hands blurred through a series of signs, and he placed his hand flat on the door in front of them. Black symbols flashed across the wood—a lock seal—and circled the Sannin's palm until Orochimaru pulled away.
"Go on," Orochimaru turned the knob and stood back with the door, waving Akemi in.
It felt wrong turning his back to a man who was already performing inhumane experiments on children like him, but his brain couldn't conjure an excuse to leave that wouldn't offend the Sannin or make Akemi appear suspicious, so reluctantly he trudged into the dark room.
Orochimaru flicked on the light while the door shut behind him, and Akemi hoped he wasn't purposely standing in front of the room's sole exit.
"The shelf," Orochimaru nodded towards the right and Akemi turned towards the dusty bookshelf smashed into a corner behind him.
Heading towards it, Akemi ignored the jars filled with yellow liquid and bloated organs—eww!—lining the tabletops, as well as the way Orochimaru's eyes tracked him, the man's chakra swirling with curiosity. Strange, he'd only spoken to the man once, and that was years ago, so where was all this interest coming from?
To lessen the awkwardness and perhaps get some answers, Akemi asked, "You're not mad about what I said to you, right?" He stopped by the shelf, reaching up and pulling out a red hardcover textbook by its spine, glancing over the title. Reptiles Across the World—Of course Orochimaru would have this book, of course.
"Not at all, Akemi-kun." The oily inflection Orochimaru's tongue ran over his name made Akemi's stomach churn. "I always enjoy hearing the thoughts of the youth, your sentiments are so fascinatingly different from the generations that came before you."
Akemi put the textbook back and pulled out a larger white one. He grinned upon seeing it was on world geography, for most of the maps he found at the bookstore focused solely on the Land of Fire's landscape. His smile vanished when he sensed, but didn't hear, Orochimaru approach him, and Akemi acted properly startled when the man spoke from right behind him.
"You're a rare type, Akemi-kun, I can tell." Orochimaru's mouth hovered over Akemi's shoulder and the skin there itched and burned, the six-year old recalling Sasuke's agonized scream as Orochimaru bit the curse mark into his shoulder. "Perhaps a rarer type than your brother."
Akemi barely stopped himself from punching the creep out for mentioning his twin, but sated his blood thirst by remembering the epic beat down Itachi would one day give the Sannin.
"What do you mean?" Akemi turned back, blinking innocently while Orochimaru straightened, chuckling faintly.
"I'm sure you know exactly what I mean." The man tilted his head, examining the six-year old like they were playing poker, and the Sannin had just called Akemi's bluff.
Akemi pulled another book off the shelf, buying time to form a response. What did Orochimaru mean? Had Akemi really intrigued the Sannin this much just from a few sentences he said at Obito's funeral? Or...was it something else?
Akemi's body thrummed with nervous energy, the chakra inside him whirling like a miniature typhoon while every second passing in silence ticked louder and louder in his brain. Maybe it was Orochimaru's dark aura, likening the poisonous smog that hung over a swamp, which was putting him on edge, or simply the fact he was trapped alone in a room with a psychopath, but there was also something about Orochimaru's tone.
His words were taunting, his vague phrasing purposely probing Akemi like he wanted the boy to confirm something Orochimaru already knew was true. Did the Sannin deem him a rare type because of how he spoke and acted...or was it possible the man had figured out Akemi was no normal six-year old? That he didn't belong in Konoha, didn't belong in this ninja world?
Akemi shook his head, but his hands were shaking, so he rushed to grab another book to hide their trembles. However, realizing the silence had carried on too long, Akemi spat out the first thing to come to mind. "You really shouldn't bring little boys alone into your laboratory. It makes you look like a pedophile."
Akemi nearly dropped the books in his hands, eyes widening as he spun around to witness Orochimaru throwing back his head to laugh.
Akemi couldn't get his heart to understand it wasn't running a marathon while Orochimaru's body continued to be racked with his laughter until the man stopped and smirked at Akemi, amusement upturning his mouth. "Is that so?" Orochimaru reached out and patted the wide-eyed Akemi's head, saying, "Sometimes one must do what they want no matter what it makes others think of them."
The six-year old blinked, unable to get his eyes back to normal size until Orochimaru pulled back, and he stuttered. "I-I guess so, Orochimaru-san."
A knock on the lab door interrupted whatever the Sannin planned to do next, and when the man turned and walked over to the entrance, Akemi hurried after him. However, Akemi's jaw dropped when the door opened and Nara Shikaku peered inside. His face was stern, but not unfriendly as he nodded towards Orochimaru, until his eyes landed on Akemi and his expression tightened.
"Ah, I thought that was you I saw in the hall, Akemi-san." Shikaku looked to Orochimaru. "I hope I'm not interrupting, but I have a planned shogi match against the squirt behind you."
"Hey!" Akemi stomped his foot, having told the Nara to never call him "squirt". It wasn't his fault he hadn't gone through puberty...again.
"No." Orochimaru smiled, setting his hand on Akemi's back and lightly pushing him forward until the Uchiha stood in the doorway. "Forgive me for making Akemi late, I know you're a busy man." His tone never wavered in its politeness, even as Akemi all but hid behind Shikaku's leg while Orochimaru's golden yellow eyes fell on him. "Keep the books, Akemi-kun, and if you ever seek more of them, my lab will always be open to you."
It was an invitation, served with a smile, but something about it sounded like a promise, and Akemi would have called himself paranoid if he didn't feel the tendons in Shikaku's leg bunching up while Akemi leaned on it.
"Thank you," Akemi mustered up his most sincere grin, and waved goodbye to the Sannin before Shikaku took his hand and led him away.
They were both silent until they reached the staircase, and Shikaku released his hand, grumbling. "Troublesome, so troublesome."
"Hey," Akemi glared at him, "I didn't ask you to lie to him."
"But you wanted me too." Shikaku crossed his arms, frowning like he was irate, though his voice held concern as he asked, "You alright?"
Akemi nodded, and the Nara's eyes lost their intensity while he stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Good, now let's head to my place, you owe me two hours of babysitting for this."
Akemi nearly missed a step as he blanched. "W-what!?" He appeared horrified. "But Shikamaru always looks at me like he's plotting something!"
Shikaku shrugged. "He probably is, but he's a Nara so he's too lazy to act on it."
.
The school year drifted past until over half of it was gone.
The curriculum never improved or provided the challenge Itachi longed for, in fact, classes only became easier over time. Although, this may have been due to the lack of girls breathing down Itachi's neck, the row he and Akemi sat in now only occupied by the two of them along with Izumi, and occasionally Inuzuka Hana who was far more reasonable than the majority of his female classmates.
It might also have to do with how fast and far the rumor of La Chancla had spread. Itachi didn't even know she was feared by anyone outside of his class until three boys suddenly latched onto him in the hallway and cowered behind him. Before Itachi could react, the scent of smoke tingled his nose and a sharp clacking sound erupted from the school entrance.
"It's La Chancla!" An older boy screamed, waving wildly at the front door that was now covered in gray wisps—smoke bombs?—before fleeing into the nearest classroom.
"She's taken the form of a shoe!" The sandy-haired boy wielding Itachi like a shield—Saisu, wasn't it?—wailed while out of the smoke a pair of white sandals appeared.
They were floating, seemingly rising and falling against the wooden floorboards like an invisible being walked in them, but when Itachi side-eyed his brother, he noticed Akemi's fingers twitching every time "La Chancla" moved.
Itachi was going to tell Akemi he was going overboard and kindly ask him to stop, but then one of the sandals flew towards Saisu's face and instincts kicked in.
Itachi chopped down on the sandal so hard it crashed into a wall, chipping some of the paint off it right as the second sandal fell from above like an anvil, only for Itachi to drive a kunai through it before it could touch him.
The sandal snapped in two, its pieces skidding onto opposite sides of the hall. Itachi turned to Akemi who was feigning surprise at the sight while the boys released him, the brunet cheering. "You saved us, Itachi-kun!"
The boy's eyes shimmered with starlight while Itachi balked at the familiar honorific suddenly attached to his name. "Kun?"
The larger brunet corrected him. "That was amazing, Itachi-san!"
"San?" Itachi's forehead scrunched up, the boy wondering why his status was elevating while mild heat spread across his cheeks.
"Move it, move it! Itachi-sama is coming through!" Saisu waved off the mob suddenly streaming out the classrooms and trying to surround Itachi, who was too stunned to react. Soon so much praise was being thrown Itachi's way he couldn't even hear his own thoughts until the three boys formed a protective circle around him, forcing their way through the crowd of amazed students and confused teachers investigating the commotion.
Itachi ducked his head to hide his embarrassment as the three boys told everyone Itachi had slayed La Chancla and her reign of terror was over.
"Good job," Itachi peered through his bangs at Akemi who suddenly hugged his arm and revealed his canines as he smirked, "Nii-sama."
Itachi wanted very much to go home after that.
Thankfully the school bell rang and everyone left, except for the three boys who Akemi claimed was now their posse. Weeks later Akemi would turn out to be correct as the same trio of boys followed Itachi everywhere, from homeroom to target practice. Even when Itachi didn't speak a word to them, the minute the boys spotted him they would circle around him and wave away anyone who got too close.
Itachi got used to, for the boys were rather good at shooing away girls and bullies alike, and they never really interfered with Itachi outside of class. Though they offered to hang out after school, Itachi always politely declined. Socializing was proving to be the hardest part of the Academy, a sentiment Akemi seemed to share, as his twin looked visibly relieved he no longer had to talk so much to block out their classmates.
Itachi felt guilty, knowing Akemi had mostly done so for his sake, and to make it up to him, asked his twin to join him on a hike to the borders of Konoha. His twin enthusiastically agreed, the drained look leaving his face as he stocked his backpack with supplies. Soon they were off, their packs secured with straps over their chest while they followed the worn dirt path through the forest, light beaming down on them through the thick tree leaves above. Akemi was quiet, never complaining about the journey's length although it took hours, and stopping only when he spotted pomegranate-colored irises on the side of the trail. He picked up a bundle, setting them in his backpack's side pocket and claiming they were for Mother. Before Itachi could turn away, he slipped one into Itachi's hair, joking that purple complimented him.
After that, his twin was silent until they reached their destination.
Akemi took off his backpack and settled it in the expansive field of tall grass while Itachi walked up to a towering rock with bold red kanji stamped on it, reading SHINOBI. Itachi pressed his hand against the cool stone while the wind ran through his hair.
What was a shinobi?
The literal definition he found in a dictionary—One Who Endures—didn't seem to encompass the full meaning, was perhaps just the beginning of the meaning.
"Why don't you ask me?"
Itachi looked over his shoulder to see Akemi sitting cross-legged in the field by his backpack, fingering blades of grass. He looked up. "Why don't you ever ask me those big questions that trouble you, Nii-san?"
Itachi didn't question how Akemi knew what he was thinking, whether his foresight showed him or he simply knew Itachi that well.
He walked over to Akemi and shed his own backpack, sitting beside him. While Akemi twirled a blade between his fingers, Itachi said, "Because," Akemi looked up and Itachi grinned, "I already know your answers."
"What is the meaning of life?"
Itachi asked the Snake Sannin who stood in the aisle between the grave markers, both of them dressed in black clothes of mourning.
Yet, Orochimaru was not frowning, there wasn't even a quiet air of somberness cloaking the man like everybody else attending Obito's funeral. Maybe that was why Itachi came to him, seeking a new kind of answer to the question plaguing his four-year old brain.
"There is no meaning." Orochimaru's mouth quirked up in grim humor. "There's meaning in life if it's eternal."
"That's a paradox."
Orochimaru turned as did Itachi to find Akemi standing a few feet behind his twin, his eyes shimmering. Though he hadn't shed any tears in his presence, Itachi knew his brother was hurting over the loss of their cousin.
"You said grieving the dead was meaningless," Akemi's voice teemed with an ocean of feelings, "But you also said there's meaning in eternal life." His eyes were beseeching as he explained. "When we grieve the dead, we recall the memories we have of them, and share those memories with other people. We tell our families, our kids...and when our kids grow up, they tell their kids, and the same thing happens again and again. So in a way, doesn't grieving the dead make the dead eternal?"
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, though he didn't seem upset as Akemi continued.
"And if the dead are eternal because we grieve, doesn't that make grieving meaningful?" Akemi came up to his brother's side.
Orochimaru eyed them both, something like approval flashing over his face before he turned, and without a word, left.
"Don't trust that man, Nii-san."
Itachi spun back, surprised to see Akemi had already moved away and was heading back to their parents.
"He's a viper." Akemi glared at the ground. "And we're nothing but rats to him," he clenched his fists.
"Birth...death...birth...death... Life is a battle."
They went on a class field trip to a little patch of forest surrounded by a chainlink fence. Their homeroom teacher opened the gate while the students stood in groups of four, and the man explained. "You all have one hour to hunt, capture, and kill one rabbit. Teams will be graded on speed and effectiveness while working together." He held up a silver stopwatch and clicked the start button. "You may now begin."
Itachi and his posse had been grouped together, so he only caught a glimpse of Akemi heading into the foliage before his twin disappeared alongside his own team.
Itachi quickly did the same, locating rabbit tracks in the mud by the riverbank and following them to a burrow beside some gnarled tree roots. The task was completed with a single toss of a kunai, the metal embedding itself in the young hare's chest the second he hopped out of his burrow. Itachi's teammates praised him and the teacher smiled since they were the first ones finished.
While they waited by the entrance, Itachi wrapped the dead rabbit in a thick cloth provided by the teacher who said they could take whatever they caught home for food. Itachi's teammates had insisted he keep it, and Itachi saw no reason to waste the animal, so he did.
However, Itachi was surprised when no other team returned fifty minutes into the one hour limit, the teacher glancing down at his stopwatch worriedly before eyeing the gateway.
Yet, after another ten minutes passed, the rest of the students showed up with heads bowed and disgruntled or disappointed expressions. All of them, empty-handed.
"What!?" The teacher blinked rapidly, stepping back while the gaggle of students insisted they couldn't find any rabbits, only some paw prints and empty burrows.
The teacher rubbed the back of his head, muttering. "But I released ten of them in there this morning..." He dropped his hand, and raising his voice, said, "Sorry, kids, there must be a hole in the fence the rabbits escaped through. All of you, excluding the group who succeeded, will have to be tested at a later time."
They were dismissed soon after, and Itachi made his way to Akemi only for his twin to grab his hand and yank him into a run.
"Akemi?" He asked, startled, but his brother didn't look back as they ran in the opposite direction of the Uchiha district.
It wasn't long before they reached the edge of a forest beside the public training grounds, but Akemi didn't so much as slow until they were mere inches from a tree.
Itachi blinked curiously while Akemi dropped to one knee and gently pulled his rather bloated satchel to sit in front of him. The eldest gasped when part of the satchel suddenly jutted out as if something had punched it from the inside.
"Sorry, guys, I know it was a bumpy ride." Akemi flipped open the flap and a brown bunny immediately sprang out, soon followed by a white and speckled one.
Itachi watched stiffly as Akemi carefully tilted his bag and more and more bunnies spilled out onto the grass, raising their pink noses to sniff the air before fleeing into the forest.
"Hasta luego!" Akemi waved at the last and smallest rabbit who stared up at him a moment, its nose twitching, before it too hopped into the forest.
"Sorry for the detour, Nii-san." Akemi rose from the ground, dusting off his pants. "We can head home now."
Itachi observed his brother for a long moment, then shook his head. "Not yet."
Akemi frowned, puzzled. "Why?"
Itachi pulled out the deceased rabbit he caught and offered the bundle to his brother. "We should bury him."
Akemi's eyes expanded, lips parting while he silently gasped. "Yeah..." Slowly, he accepted the bundle. "Yeah, we should."
Itachi found a patch of soil softened by the earlier rainfall and used his kunai to dig a shallow grave in it. Akemi was silent as he set the rabbit in and used his hands to cover the hole. Itachi said a few words of prayer, and they left.
Akemi ducked his head. "Thank you," he whispered.
Itachi didn't reply, just caught Akemi's dirt crusted wrist and led him home.
"What does it mean to be a shinobi?"
Shock wove into Akemi's expression, but soon his lips hitched up on one side and he asked, "Am I becoming predictable?" He leaned against Itachi's side, settling his chin on his shoulder. "Guess I'll have to try harder, somebody's got to keep you on your toes."
Itachi smiled briefly before raising his gaze skyward. The wind was pushing the clouds over them, blocking the sun and leaving them in shade.
Itachi still hadn't decided what being a shinobi meant, but his brother's beliefs were clear.
Life is meaningful when you spend it with those you cherish.
Itachi ran a hand through his hair, fingering the iris.
All life is precious.
He picked the flower out.
A shinobi is someone who has the strength to protect life...
He watched its petals fluttering in the breeze.
...or end it.
He let it go and the wind carried it away.
Thanks once again to everyone who has supported this story. Your encouraging reviews are my muse, and always bring a smile to my face :)
Also, "La Chancla" means "The Flipflop/Sandal", a weapon typically wielded by angry Latino mothers XD
Next time: Fugaku does some investigating...