3. Kisame
Kisame's first impression of Uchiha Itachi was, 'I didn't know you could defect from a village so young' followed immediately by 'why the hell did he defect from his village so young'.
Of course later he realised that the thirteen year old child was actually one of the most prolific killers in the Land of Fire and his appreciation for Konohan assassination techniques skyrocketed. Between Orochimaru and Itachi, he wondered how on earth the Leaf managed to still win the wars without such prolific fighters on their side. So much for the softest village.
Speaking of which, Orochimaru provided another interesting encounter, especially when Itachi turned down every overture or partnership, mentorship or general acquaintanceship with the former Konoha nin. Granted it delved slightly into the creepy realm, what with the snake summoner being well into his fifties and Itachi being barely thirteen but there was none of the camaraderie that stemmed from defecting from the same village.
He knew better than most, what with Mist's high rate of defection that should he come across a fellow Kiri missing nin, he would at worst remain neutral and at best assist them in their own mission. It was an unspoken rule that was upheld most of the time simply because it was heartening to know that someone else understood the worst parts of your former village.
However, Itachi despised Orochimaru with a hatred he didn't often see even in loyal Konoha nin and he was incredibly curious about the reason. However, he knew that he would never ask either of them, his preservation instincts were strong enough that he had no desire whatsoever to earn their wrath.
Eventually Kisame and Itachi were assigned to partner each other and sent on a hunt for the Bijuu, a mission that took them through the entirety of the Elemental Nations and led to him discovering pleanty about his pint sized partner despite his anti social tendencies.
He learnt that the boy adored dango and most sweet things. He learnt that he preferred to fight with Genjutsu because he could control their thoughts before their death but unlike what he had assumed earlier, it didn't stem from a sadistic desire to torture, but because he could give them a peaceful death. He learnt that the boy was ambidextrous but used his left hand more. He pretended he didn't know when Itachi sneaked off to visit the quaint little tea houses in the villages they passed.
He learnt plenty about his partner but the one thing he never managed to find out was why the boy had ever defected from Konoha. Oh, he knew the hows well enough, managed to cobble together enough information to get the picture of a kin- slaying mass murderer who tortured his little brother before leaving the village to burn behind him but he never understood Why Itachi had done it.
Also for a so-called insane, sadistic murderer he was remarkably sane, kind and pacifistic.
It wasn't until one particular late night discussion that he ever began putting the pieces together. They had been spending Itachi's seventeenth birthday in Yugakure, when Itachi had asked out of the blue, "Why did you join the Akatsuki?"
"Huh?" Kisame managed, slightly befuddled by the idea of Itachi voluntarily beginning a conversation. The Uchiha was completely serious, head tilted slightly away from him and gaze distant. Kisame himself leaned on the wall of the bathhouse, contemplating the question for a long minute.
"This entire system is two faced." He began finally. "They make you have comrades and then expect you to betray them the next second if needed. Loyalty is expected, but only to the village and disloyalty to everyone else is encouraged. The Villages, the Kage's, they are all hypocrites of the highest order. At least in the Eternal Tsukiyomi, betrayal isn't celebrated."
Itachi didn't reply for a long moment and Kisame wondered what he was thinking.
"Your primary loyalty wasn't to the village?"
"It was. That's the problem. After I killed the traitors, the fool of a Mizukage praised my 'loyalty'. Hah! Where is the loyalty in putting Samehada through a comrade's back?" He spat bitterly. "What had the village done for me? At least that man had guarded my back. All the village does is turn us against our true allies."
Itachi hnned softly but Kisame got the feeling that he had failed some sort of test he didn't know about. He grunted softly in annoyance at the thought. It didn't matter to him anyway. What did he care about some soft hearted leaf nin's opinion?
"Would you have trusted me without the Akatsuki? I have defended you." Itachi said monotonously and Kisame scowled.
"Don't be stupid. We have a mission. Like hell you would have defended me without it."
"That man wouldn't have defended you of you weren't of the same village." Itachi pointed out. "The villages provide an ideal to be loyal to. It's because of that loyalty that the secondary loyalty to comrades comes about." He sighed, shaking his head when Kisame did not reply. With his ordinary unearthly grace, the Uchiha ignored the glare Kisame was directing his way and began walking back to the inn slowly.
The former Kiri nin did not try and refute the statement, too interested in the sentiment behind it. Missing nin did not exalt loyalty. They certainly did not prize loyalty to a village and Kisame was really, really curious about why the boy had defected.
Itachi was almost out of earshot when he called out to him. "And why did you join, huh?"
He wasn't prepared for Itachi to turn back with an almost pained expression on his face. An expression he knew from the veterans of the worst crimes of humanity. An expression that meant devastation more than sadness and broken more than hurt. He certainly wasn't prepared for the way the Uchiha whispered into the frigid night air, "I joined because I thought I could finally see something other than war. I joined because I hoped I could see... peace."
Kisame hadn't been able to reply to that simply hooding his eyes and allowing Itachi to return. It was another piece in the frankly impossible puzzle that was Uchiha Itachi's motives. A pacifist, a murderer, a maniac, a genius, had there ever been a more curious set of adjectives to describe the same man? One side had to be an act but for the life of him, Kisame couldn't figure out which.
The last incident which more or less settled Kisame's opinion of Itachi occured soon after they were sent to find the Kyuubi in Konoha. They may have failed to get the Bijuu but they had received plenty of useful information, not the least of which was the knowledge of the Sandaime Hokage's death and Orochimaru's obsession with the Sharingan eyes of Itachi's younger brother.
He also found out that missing nin or no, Itachi's loyalty to his younger brother was unattainable. The way even his ordinarily placid expression hadn't hidden his fury when Orochimaru threatened his brother and the way he threw himself at the Sannin with a single minded focus he had only ever seen in the soldiers on kamikaze missions.
He would die for this.
Logically speaking , Kisame knew that Itachi was an S- Ranked shinobi. He had seen the deadly assassination techniques and the efficient brutality the Uchiha could use but it was another thing entirely to watch ItachidestroyOrochimaru. The Snake Sannin may be a legend but against a man who has nothing to lose and an overpowered Doujutsu, he too fell eventually.
When he realised that Itachi had burnt a shrine of Konohan leaves, a tradition heknewwas for a fallen Hokage, he could feel the pieces beginning to fall into place in a picture he could hardly believe.
And finally when Kisame saw the Uchiha coughing up a truly disturbing amount of blood, beside the shrine of ashen leaves, he knew for certain that despite the bounty in the Bingo Books, despite the slash through his hitai-ate, and despite the crimson clouds on his cloak, Itachi was no more a leaf traitor than he was Mizukage.
He had never outright questioned Itachi's loyalty but he was always on guard while associating with missing nin if only because they had betrayed one side, what's to stop them from betraying another. Still he found himself more relaxed around his partner and found it ironic that proof of Itachi not supporting Akatsuki was what proved his loyalty.
If he kept silent when questioned by leader, well, he supposed by his own ideology the boy had earned his trust by guarding his back.
AN- Itachi is going to live and for that I will need to change a couple of things. Orochimaru's death is the first.
I always thought that it was odd that Itachi allowed the Sannin to get away with Sasuke especially when Itachi kept Shisui's Mangekyou specifically to keep Sasuke loyal to Konoha so I decided to change it.
Kisame's reason for joining Akatsuki is more or less canon. I liked how it was nearly opposite to Itachi's own reason.
Leave a review and favourite if you liked this chapter and lemme know if there's anyone you wanna see. Thanks for reading!
~Teaspoon