Woohoo new chapter! Thank you all for the reviews! :) They make me so happy lol.
So, still no update schedule and I don't know how long the story will be, and I'm sorry for that. I do have an end goal in mind, but I kinda only plan out the chapters for a couple of days when I have time, and then tend to write them super late at night...but once school is over I should have more time to be consistent.
Have fun reading!
12th Year of Danzo's Rule
The moist wind rushed through Itachi's hair as he ran toward the village. His mission was completed earlier than expected, and he was anxious to return home. Surprisingly, he was not as sore or exhausted after this mission as he usually was. There hadn't been any extenuating circumstances, just an assassination of a merchant and retrieval of three scrolls detailing several ancient kata once used by the Uzumaki of Uzushiogakure. Itachi might have scanned the scrolls with his sharingan before placing them in the storage seal on the bandanna on his left forearm. Maybe he would make some time to train with Sasuke and covertly work through the kata with his otouto.
At last, the western gates to Konoha were within sight. Two chuunin were posted at check in as usual, but there was also a Root nin perched on one of the tall gate posts. Itachi narrowed his eyes, something must have happened.
"Uchiha Itachi, returning from Mission 12B-8904." He unsealed his identification papers and passed them to the guard, but the Root nin leaped down and snatched them first.
After studying them briefly, the white-masked nin spoke in a rough, female voice. "Cleared. You are expected to drop off the package at the mission office and then return to the Uchiha Compound. Tomorrow at three o'clock, you will report to the mission office again to hand in your report. Do not come earlier or later than three o'clock; the village is in lockdown."
Itachi nodded and was on his way. Lockdown. That meant all shinobi clans were confined to their compounds or sectors when not working. Neither civilians nor shinobi were allowed to loiter and chat with anyone on the streets, and the markets would only be open for two hours, with each district of Kohoha assigned a different forty-five minute window to buy their groceries. Itachi almost sighed, this was tedious and worrying.
Later, when Itachi stepped through the door to his house, he was greeted by silence. It was dark in the rooms, and he would have been concerned if he hadn't seen the flickering of the lamplight through the open shoji doors that led to the patio behind the kitchen. Quietly he padded toward his mother and brother and watched them as they murmured to each other in the dark. Kaa-san glanced at him from the corner of her eye and gave a small, welcoming and relieved smile. Sasuke, quietly but intently describing his studies from earlier that day didn't notice. He watched as the fire in the lamps cast both a warm glow and fuzzy shadows across their faces.
Itachi remembered evenings such as this one from when he was younger. Tou-san would grill fish, and Kaa-san would cook sliced carrots in sake and sugar, and Itachi and Sasuke would roll around in the grass and try to catch fireflies. Sometimes their aunts and uncles and cousins like Shisui and Izumi would come as well with their own food and cheerfulness. Itachi let his sigh last long and low. It had been a long time since they'd had evenings like that, and it was presently too dangerous and suspicious-looking to host one now.
Sasuke turned slightly at the sigh and stared at Itachi before standing and giving him a hug. He had one of the biggest grins Itachi had seen on him in a while.
"I graduated, Nii-san. I don't have a team yet, but I've been doing some independent study and they've discussed adding me as a fourth member to a genin team a year ahead."
Itachi poked Sasuke in the forehead. "I'm proud, Sasuke."
For once his brother didn't scrunch his face at the forehead-poke. Instead he sobered a little, and somber gratitude entered his eyes. "Thank you for Tou-san's tanto. I've already begun training with it."
Unable to resist, Itachi poked his forehead once more before moving to sit on the plush rug on the patio.
When Sasuke had retired to bed, Itachi and Mikoto stayed in the kitchen. His kaa-san placed a tray of homemade dango in front of him. He gave a brief smile. His mother's dango used to be his treat for every mission he returned from, but with the rationing of food like sugar and flour, it was rare now.
"A contact told me two prisoners escaped from one of the camps. No idea who the prisoners are, but they are both male."
Itachi hummed as he ate his dango. This wasn't the first time prisoners had escaped, but it was only the second that the village was placed in lockdown because of it. The last time had only lasted four days before the escapee was found and executed. "They must be important for all of this. I was checked in by a Root nin at the gates, and there are certainly a lot more of them patrolling." Itachi set is plate down before turning to his mother. "I think I might look around the compound later. We can't have anyone hiding here, it'll look too suspicious."
Mikoto glared at him. "If you're caught, it'll look too suspicious."
He gave his mother a hug. "I'll be careful Kaa-san, I won't be caught."
Mikoto nodded and chided him for being too confident before heading down the hall to her bedroom. Itachi washed his plate in the sink, and grabbed his weapons pouch from where he had left it on the counter. He quietly slipped outside and steeled himself. If the escapees were in the Uchiha compound, they would have to be killed and burned. Turning them in or allowing their bodies to be found would only put the Uchiha in the unwanted spotlight.
Itachi made three shadow clones and sent them in different directions before heading north himself and slipped through the shadows of his clan's compound. The air was still humid and soft, but caused his hair to stick to his damp neck. Nothing was out of the ordinary that he sensed. His sharingan peered around him as he continued closer to the edge of the compound. Oh. He turned to his right. Well there was certainly someone at the Naka shrine. The door was slightly ajar and his eyes picked up a bloody smudge on the door frame.
Itachi readied a kunai, wishing he had his tanto. It was stupid not to bring it. Though the escapee was probably injured and weak, he was still dangerous. He slowly pushed the heavy, wooden door open and entered. No one was in the main room, so he headed down the hall on his left. In one of the rooms, he could hear labored breathing. Obviously the man was not in a state aware enough to quiet himself. Itachi darted through the door and onto the figure on the ground, pressing his kunai to the man's neck.
A familiar sharingan and a guttural Itachi had him freezing. The man beneath him was thin and pale, with healing blisters and sores littering his face and neck and bald head, but the wry twist to his mouth was the same as it had been five years ago. Itachi skittered away.
"Shisui?!"
His friend gave a weak, chuckling sigh. "H-hey."
"What are you doing here?"
"Isn't it obvious? I escaped."
Shisui was still lying on the ground where Itachi had knocked him over. He moved to grasp the older man under the arms and shift him into a sitting position, but Shisui was unable to sit up by himself and ended up leaning against Itachi.
"How long have you been here? I just returned from a mission today and found out about the village lockdown."
"Six days. You-uh…you got any food with you?"
Feeling a pang in his chest at the desperately miserable question, Itachi shook his head no. "I'll get you something soon though. We'll take you somewhere safe and have your injuries treated."
Shisui grunted. "Izumi's?"
Itachi wanted to take his friend to his house, but knew that was a bad idea. The clan head's house would be the first place Root went if they suspected the Uchiha. He breathed out a sigh. "Why do you always get yourself into so much trouble? Yes, Izumi and Sakura will take care of you for the time being."
Itachi hefted Shisui onto his back. It would be difficult to make it to the adjacent side of the compound without being seen, but he'd done more difficult things on missions. He would not get caught.
Shisui cleared his throat. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
Itachi turned his head to peer at his cousin. Starving, injured, and weak and he still was one of the only people to make Itachi feel stupid.
"Hn. The other escapee. Who is he?"
The other man let a soft breath of air puff from his nose. "He was my cellmate. Just a little kid…but he still managed to get us out of there."
Itachi felt himself stiffen at the mention of a child kept as a prisoner in the camps. He hesitated in asking, "Is he dead?"
Shisui choked. "No! No, no…I hope not. He…well he had just spent an hour puking in the toilet last I saw him but he's not dead."
Itachi nodded before slipping out the window of the room and into the dark. They were silent as they made their way cautiously to Izumi's house on the outskirts of the compound. He could feel Shisui repeatedly relax as he lost consciousness and jerk as he came to.
Without knocking, Itachi entered Izumi's house. Before he took Shisui down to the basement, however, his friend stopped him. It was silent for a couple of minutes, their soft breaths pooling into the dark air, and Itachi could feel Shisui's hand clench.
"Itachi, there is something you need to know." Shisui leaned over weakly and whispered in Itachi's ear, "The jinchuuriki is alive."
The younger man stood shocked for a minute and processed the information and all the associated implications before stating, "He was your cellmate."
"Yes."
With a solemn nod, Itachi nudged the basement door open with is foot, finding Izumi and Sakura quietly reading. At the sight of them, the two girls stood, and Sakura instantly headed to the bathroom to grab the medical kit. Izumi stared as he laid Shisui on the bed at the far wall, her face contorting with grief.
"Is-I…Shisui?"
But their friend had already fallen unconscious, and she received no reply.
It was two days after Itachi returned from his mission that Sasuke was tasked with another message to deliver. As the village was still in lockdown, it would be tricky. He hadn't seen Itachi but one other time since his return, and his brother seemed weary and worried.
The Uchiha compound and surrounding area of the southeast district was allotted time to grocery shop between 10:15 and 11:00 in the morning on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. He waited until he felt the slight presence of Ino also watching through his eyes before joining the rushing crowd. His peers from the Academy still met when they could, and relayed gossip to each other that they picked up from their clan's whispers, but Sasuke's message running was still the most valuable source of information, even if they didn't understand the context most of the time.
Sasuke could feel his irritation rise as he shouldered his way through the mass of people. He was just supposed to buy tomatoes, cheese, and then head to Ryoku Tea where the message would be delivered to him. He calmed himself before purchasing three tomatoes, and rolled goat cheese, and he finally turned to the end street where the tea stand was quietly doing business. He made sure not to look up at the Root shinobi posted on the roofs, or the chuunin they had stationed on each corner.
As he passed through the tied curtains into the shade, he spotted an old man with spectacles and one arm. "Reo-san, my mother would like a small can of genmaicha, please."
"Ah, Sasuke-kun. My last customer that bought a can of genmaicha was a strange one. He kept chewing on a senbon, even when talking. I was afraid he'd accidentally choke on the sharp needle."
Sasuke nodded. He was to deliver the message to a shinobi with a senbon. "That is strange. Maybe he wanted to look intimidating?"
The old man shrugged and handed him his change, bidding him a good day. Sasuke headed toward the exit gates where chuunin were checking receipts and grocery bags. He felt Ino's worry as they opened his can and looked at the tea leaves and rice kernels inside, but soon the can was closed again and he was on his way. Sasuke then left for the library, where he would meet his next contact. He had twenty minutes before he would be expected to return home.
Halfway there, Sasuke was sure he was being followed. Ino's anxiety rose, but at his internal flare of annoyance, she quieted. He subtly flashed his sharingan, and sure enough, there was a Root ninja tailing him from the roofs above. Don't panic. Just continue about your business.
On the next block however, the white masked man leaped in front of Sasuke, blocking his way. Kuso. The man had broad shoulders and loomed over the genin. He stared at him before holding out a hand.
"Give me the can of tea."
Sasuke handed it over, palms sweating and fear curling in his stomach. What would he do if he was caught? Run, fight, there was nobody around that would help him. Ino was full on panicking in the back of his mind, but she was also sending waves of assurance and he thought he could sense her intention to notify Akimichi Choza. She soon faded from his senses, and Sasuke felt the cold space where she had been.
Sasuke kept his face blank as he said, "It's just tea for my kaa-san. I'm on my way to the library for the rest of my allotted time outside of the compound, and then I'll be on my way home."
The genin could feel the other man's eyes boring into him from behind the mask, as he opened the tin lid. He then dumped the whole can onto the ground.
Sasuke's eyes widened as he saw a strip of rice paper fall to the ground amid the leaves and rice kernels. He caught what the lettering said; The jinchuuriki is alive, before it was snatched by a gloved hand. Not bothering to wait for the Root nin to read the message, Sasuke bolted to his left.
He darted between buildings and down alleys. The white-masked nin wasn't too far behind him, and as he was using the roofs he could travel much faster. He remembered Itachi's instruction if he was ever caught. Run and isolate yourself. You don't want other Root ninja to see and come to his allly's assistance. You run somewhere you can fight, and you kill him, Sasuke. No hesitation, fight for your life and kill whoever is after you.
Itachi had then taught him the Uchiha Body Burning jutsu; he stressed the importance of leaving no evidence. If there were no witnesses, and the Root shinobi was reported as MIA, then hopefully Sasuke could continue his genin life in Konoha as peacefully as possible.
Almost running into a dead end, Sasuke instead turned right, dodging a kunai thrown his way. He saw a clearing up ahead leading to part of Konoha's expansive forest and headed that way, but a jerk on his shirt caused his breath to cut off and he fell to the ground. The Root nin was on top of him, his knee pressing into Sasuke's stomach, making it more difficult to breathe. He braced his arms as a fist was aimed toward his head and deflected the punch. The man wanted to take him into custody for questioning or to be sent to the training camps, he wasn't aiming to kill Sasuke. But Sasuke knew if he dragged the fight on too long, the man would get irritated and just kill him. Sasuke had to kill him first, while the Root nin was holding back.
Though his vision was growing blurry from lack of oxygen, he stopped defending his head for a second to grab a kunai from the Root nin's weapons pouch. The man's punch landed on his left eye, but he soon fell back as Sasuke's kunai stabbed his thigh. Not letting the man recover, Sasuke twisted up and aimed for his Achilles' tendon. He missed however as the shinobi kicked out, sending Sasuke flying.
Sasuke hesitated for a moment as he got to his feet. Should he run further to the forest? Would the Root shinobi chase him or go for backup? Should he try and kill the man now? Would he be able to? You have to. He reminded himself he had no choice but to kill the man. Leave no evidence.
The decision was made for him as the man snarled and charged Sasuke. The boy turned and ran further into the forest. He felt a sharp pain and a spray of blood drizzled his cheek as a kunai grazed the top of his collar bone. He didn't take time to look back, but the man had almost overtaken him. He could hear the pained hitches in the shinobi's breath as he ran on his injured leg. Sasuke yanked himself quickly around a tree to his left, causing the man to stumble and catch up.
Just as he reached another clearing, one with an old and dilapidated house in the middle, the Root ninja toppled Sasuke. This time the genin was on his stomach, unable to turn and defend himself from the man. He bent his torso to the side to try and stab the shinobi in the leg again, but his wrist was caught and his arm was twisted behind his back painfully. The man grabbed his hair and slammed his head into the grass before leaning over and growling in his ear, "You won't make it out of this forest alive, Uchiha scum."
Sasuke jerked his shoulders and wriggled with all his might, but it was to no avail as the man's knee again pressed down on him and limited his ability to breathe again. He searched what he could see in front of him, beyond the grass in the foreground of his vision, for anything, anyone that would help him. Kaa-san, Itachi…please, I—a loud and ferocious yell echoed in his ears and something rammed into the Root nin, shoving the man off of Sasuke's back.
