His third birthday rolled around before he knew it and an excited buzz was in the air. He learned that many important clans would be in attendance and his mother ushered him from his room after spending hours getting him ready. She was a bit of a perfectionist. He wore a sky blue kimono with white patterning and a gold obi. Like the sun and the sky he mused.
He quickly arrived to the front of the property with his mother to begin welcoming the guests. Many he recognized from his first and second birthday greeted him warmly with him doing the same. He had grown very fond of the people around him and was happy whenever he got the chance to say hello. People often called him a gentle soul or an old soul because of his calm and gentle demeanor, but he didn't mind. It was just how he was. Of course only his family knew of his excitement at learning something new, art (he had gotten back into that skill very quickly), training, and deep love of his family.
He paused as a pair of vaguely familiar people strolled into the grounds. They weren't of the sarutobi clan, but rather the Hyuuga! He met their violet eyes and greeted them. He couldn't tell who they were, but he had to have been the head at the time. Hiashi, if he's in the right timeline. Hiruzen's age could only give him so vague of an idea.
They moved on quickly enough and then a few pairs showed up at the same time, the Ino-Shika-Cho head pairings. He was surprised they'd come to a child's birthday party, and they didn't seem to have their children with them. His brow furrowed slightly. Was I born before the rookie 9? He shook his head of the thought, something to investigate later. He greeted everyone that came his way including heads from the Aburame and Inuzuka. The real shock came to him when the Uchihas arrived
Fugaku strolled into the compound with an air of authority and purpose. His son was striding alongside him with deep tear troughs down his face, though not quite as deep as he thought they were. Itachi. He realized quickly and greeted them warmly as he had the others. He eyed Itachi curiously though as they turned and walked away. He sighed inaudibly before turning to greet the rest of the guests.
There weren't that many after that and he was released to mingle with the guests. After all, he was the birthday boy and needed to make appearances. He happily complied, and made his way towards the conversing adults and children around his age. He first charmed the adults with his tranquil personality and easy smile despite his unnerving pure white eyes, and then strolled towards the rest of the children with the easy, unshakable, confidence of the adult that had been through just about everything in his previous life. Murphy's law and all that jazz. He gave them a serene smile after noticing their tense shoulders and watched as they relaxed. He frowned for a moment as he did whenever someone reacted this way, most of the time it was because of his eyes.
Still he greeted them kindly, but quickly realized he had forgotten how to interact with people his "own age". He paused for a moment unsure of how to continue when one asked if he wanted to play ninja. He readily jumped into the fray of the iconic game, but dialed back his skills in order to play at least fairly evenly with them. However, he grew bored and made up an excuse about having to do something because of his duties as the birthday boy and left the group.
He wandered aimlessly for a few moments before spying Itachi and Fugaku talking with a couple of adults. He noted how Fugaku dismissed his son quickly after getting into the conversation with stiff posture and a tense facial expression. Must be talking about some serious clan jargon then. Pausing, he marveled a bit at how easy he thought the rather expressionless man was to read. He had thought it would be more difficult to read the minute twitches of his fingers or muscles, and especially so with the formal clothes he had draped over his frame. Must be from painstakingly taking down details in my various sketchbooks back then. He watched Itachi move away from the group and find an empty space, alone from the rest of the party. Watching silently, he had a small internal dispute. To go or not to go? He made up his mind and walked swiftly over to the boy, after all he could be good company. "Hello Itachi-san, are you enjoying the party so far?" He asked in a soft tone as he gazed at the Uchiha heir.
Itachi straightened slightly in surprise before glancing over and nodding slightly. Ah, so he's the quiet type. Of course, he already knew that from his interactions with the Naruto community, but another thought occurred to him. Was it really wise to be associating himself with a person who kills pretty much their entire clan in the future? Despite it not being entirely his fault? He gave a small smile and turned towards the party simply staying an observer and relishing in the quiet, and contemplated on his thoughts. "Asahi-san, is there something you needed?" Asahi slowly turned towards the boy with a slightly shocked and confused face. So he speaks, and he speaks well! As expected of a child genius I suppose. "No, I simply saw you here by yourself and decided to accompany you, Itachi-san." He laughed softly at the look Itachi gave him, as if he had never been talked to before, but perhaps whenever people talked to him they only talked to him for their own benefit because he was the clan heir. He could see that. Technically he was a clan heir as well. Not to the Sarutobi, but the Haruko. Supposedly he and mother were the only ones left. They had an eerily similar situation to the Uzumaki, and likely had some scattered members after the invasion of their own lands, but no one knows where they are.
He realized he had been spacing out and looked back to Itachi before realizing Itachi had been speaking. "Ah sorry Itachi-san I spaced out, could you repeat that?" He asked with a light dusting of pink no doubt covering his cheeks out of embarrassment, and his light complexion didn't help in hiding it. The Uchiha's lips twitched upwards in amusement so quickly he thought he had imagined it before restating the question.
Hello everyone! Welcome back to my humble writings! Sorry the update is a day late, yet again... I was sick all last week and had a ton of makeup work from school :p However, thanksgiving break is just around the corner so I'll be able to write tons! I might post an extra chapter or two because of all of the free time I'll have.. Who knows? ;) Hope y'all are enjoying the story so far! Please leave a review and share!