Konoha's Weasel Prince
Summary: Itachi never got to use his Susanoo in his fight with Sasuke. As soon as the Kirin hit, he was sent back through time to the founder's era and it was up to him to ensure a safer and surer future for Konoha and the world at large. KisaIta TobiMada HashiMito others mentioned
Uzumaki Mito hated herself for admitting to this weakness, but she was nervous. Actually, forget nervous, she was an anxious wreck as she stood in front of a door that no one but the owner of said door ever passed, despite how many close friends the man has made so far. There seemed to be some sort of silent agreement in Konoha that that one house was not to be entered unless invited and so far, the owner of the house had usually been the one invited elsewhere.
It would seem that she, of all people, will be the first person to step over that threshold. Not Tobirama, who has claimed this person as his best friend. Not Izuna, who loved annoying everyone and inviting himself into their houses whenever he felt like it. Not Madara, who loved taking this person out to fly their birds together. Not Hashirama, who liked hiding behind the man when Tobirama was chasing him with paperwork. Not Toka, who loved sparring with him. Not Hikaku, who usually sought the man out for some peace and calm after guarding Izuna all day long. Not any of the numerous children that ran after the man whenever he exited this small, cozy house. None of them, but Mito, on a day she had felt the first true nervousness since she was a ten year old and her kin taught her the first principles of what it meant to be a wife. Not even when she had, as a young woman, stood beside Hashirama on the altar to be married to him with Butsuma's glaring eyes on her at all times. Not even when Hahsirama first took her to bed as his - unofficial back then - wife.
And it wasn't even the owner of the house that was unnerving her so! If anything, the calming chakra signature she felt inside should have soother her nerves long before she came to stand outside this slab of wood that separated them and that she didn't dare knock on. She did not understand why she was anxious about talking with him. For as long as she had known him, he had been nothing but clam, sportive, wise and gentle towards everyone who did not earn his ire by being thoughtless and careless towards the welfare of others. His attitude his earned him many friends in the village, even if he seemed unaware of them most of the time, and he was more than well loved. The very founders of the village looked upon him as a new younger brother and many of the war-weary veterans looked up to him as a symbol of hope and peace, since he was the one who had essentially brought about the circumstances to end the war in the first place.
There was nothing about Dare no Ichozoku no Itachi to suggest that she should be nervous when standing on his doorstep. Mito felt silly and rather ashamed of herself for allowing herself to hesitate like this. It was approaching almost two years of their acquaintance and friendship and he was practically family after conducting her wedding ceremony, yet here she was, practically doubting how he will be receiving of the subject she wished to discuss with him.
She even doubted it would be news to him. Itachi was a far too perceptive person not to notice and she knew he prided himself with his eyes. Mito had been the one to notice the damage they have sustained when he was first brought back to the hospital back at the Senju compound and she had immediately started working on them, channeling careful amounts of her healing chakra into them in the hopes of recovering their vision. She had had her doubts that it would ever be enough - the damage was grave and seemed to have been developing for more than a couple of years - but she was glad today that she had made the effort. Itachi had beautiful eyes that roamed over every face and seemed to sear into one's soul if you meet them. They could channel all sorts of emotions into others and Mito knew that his gaze was hypnotic, especially when he talked of peace or his family, long gone it might be. His dark pools of onyx would become warm and gentle with affection or his dreams of a peaceful world and people would immediately, more often than not unknowingly, shift their goals so that they might do something to make that look reappear. Mito knew more than a few villagers were a bit envious of children, since their innocence drew those looks to the surface more than anything else besides maybe Kuro Onyx.
So, really, there was no reason for Mito to feel nervous and so she took a great, big breath of air in order to calm her frayed nerves. She blamed it on her current condition that her hand still trembled minutely as she hesitated one last millisecond before letting her knuckles rap gently against wood. She waited with bathed breath as she felt curiosity peak the chakra signature from inside the house although she had no doubt Itachi knew it was her. Sensor he might not be, but Itachi still had some basic knowledge of sensoring. Maybe a bit more than an average ninja, but still nowhere near her, Madara's or let alone Tobirama's level. He was somewhere between the Yamanaka's level and a normal shinobi's level, quite impressive all things considered, especially his rather low chakra reserves.
(Mito was still incredulous as to why he had such low reserves, even when his illness was not feeding off of his chakra to keep him alive and moving as Itachi had admitted to using it for years to do. He compensated for it with great chakra control but still ... Mito had never met a ninja born with such low chakra reserves while at the same time being as gifted as Itachi was. He was almost on the level of the Uchiha and the Senju brothers!)
While she was momentarily lost in thought, thinking about the stamina trainings Hahsirama and Madara (they had monstrous reserves and stamina, the two of them each, that Mito wondered if their mothers might have possibly come from her clan with the volume of their chakra) had badgered Itachi into having with them to increase his reserves, the door opened and she was snapped out of her thoughts at the confused sounding caw coming from over a black clad shoulder of Itachi as he looked at her in silent worry.
''Mito-san, are you alright?'' Ah, he must have felt from her circulating chakra how anxious she was. Rather rare, for non-sensors to notice a change in emotions based on the churning of chakra, but a skill Tobirama, Mito and Madara have come to terms with Itachi possessing early on. She tried to smile at him reassuringly, but it felt too shaky for her linking and Itachi - bless his soul - smoothed out his face and stepped aside to signal her to come in. ''I will get tea.''
''Peppermint, if you have, please.'' The redhead replies politely as she enters and goes to the living room/dinning room/kitchenette where the young man heads as soon as he closes the door and makes sure she has found a place she wishes to sit. He grunts an acknowledgement before starting to prepare the teakettle, rummaging around near noiselessly and Mito knows he's only making noise to make her feel a little more relaxed. No ninja would make that much noise normally, especially if they were planning to ambush or attack someone and while Mito knows Itachi wouldn't do it either, it was still an instinctual comfort and she sighed. A small smiled touched her lips when Kuro Onyx fluttered over to her, as if the bird knew he should play host. Knowing that it was far more intelligent than either it or its master showed regularly, Mito wouldn't be surprised if the crow did understand. Besides, she was distressed and animals have a tendency to approach distressed humans in an effort to make them feel better.
''Hello, there.'' She greeted as she carefully lifted a hand towards the bird, not wanting to startle it even though she knew Kuro Onyx was not like other birds and was far from being so skittish. Still, she respected the man of the house, the owner of this bird, and she wanted to show it. She gently touched the feathers of Kuro Onyx's head, marveling at the soft texture and that fact that he was letting her pet him at all. He was, in truth, a wild bird. Itachi had told them that he and Kuro Onyx went way back and that the crow was a wild one that refused to leave his side for years. He never tried to tame him and he didn't have a contract with crows that would bind the bird to him. He had made a pact with crows on the day he met Kuro Onyx and pacts with dogs were rare enough as it was, let alone with animals like crows. It requires a sense of loyalty and trust between both human and summons and it is still unknown just how loyal wild crows can be. But anyone who sees these two would think that these two were practically soul-bonded.
Itachi returned while Kuro Onyx was preening under her attention, two steaming cups of tea in hand. The bird ruffled its feathers, skipped away from Mito's fingers to as for attention from the man and cawed happily when Itachi scratched under its beak before the crow took flight and flew out of the open window. The redhead watched Itachi shake his head in amusement before he sat down across from her at his dinning table.
''Don't you ever worry for him?'' The woman asked, unable to help herself. How she understood it, Kuro Onyx was Itachi's lifelong companion. If she had a lifelong companion, she would be worried sick every time said companion left her adobe, especially if it was practically a normal bird like Kuro Onyx was. She couldn't bear the thought of what some cat or dog might do if they were to get lucky. Just the imaginary of the crow's broken body wanted to bring tears to her eyes and she cursed herself for losing her control so much due to her condition. It was unacceptable. She was a kunoichi, the princess of Uzo! She was the wife of the current Hokage and such behavior was befitting her status. She was an Uzumaki, not some weak and scared peasant woman.
''Hm, I used to, when I was younger.'' Itachi admitted, blowing away the steam from his tea before taking a small sip. ''Then I realized that a part of my psyche is connected to his and that his already great intelligence for even his species has increased even more and that he was practically a half-trained ninja animal due to somehow absorbing some of my training into himself. Kuro Onyx can't use techniques but he can fight. No other animal, no matter how big, ferocious, mythical or powerful has been able to take him out of the air or catch him off guard so far.'' Judging from his wording and the amused pride in his voice for his precious crow, Mito suspected there was a story somewhere in there that she already knew in advance that Itachi won't tell. ''But I doubt that is what you have come to discuss with me, Mito-san. Would you please tell me what bothers you so?''
Mito takes a long, shaky breath and looks Itachi in the eye, never even touching her tea other than to fiddle with the cup. Well, she has to tell him. It is why she came here, after all. It would be cowardly and downright idiotic to back out now.
''I'm pregnant and ... I don't know how to ... how to tell Hashirama.'' And the worst part is that she knows her worries are unwarranted. Both of Konoha's founders were so fond of children that she didn't doubt Hashirama would cry rivers of joy when he hears he'll become a father. Yet isn't every mother a little worried with how their partner will take the news, when they have to tell them? Wasn't that like the rule of the world? Everyone is nervous at first before the joy sets in and then, sometimes, a new burst of nerves replaces it again, all in tidal waves until it sets on one of the two options. Or so she's heard. That's how it is among the Senju kunoichi. Back home in Uzo, her sisters and cousins and aunts had no such worries as they were not at war like the Senju used to be with the Uchiha so they didn't need immediate soldiers like her in-laws had needed and yet they have still been quite a bit anxious about their pregnancies. It was the same for civilian women as well. Was it the worry of their partner's possible negative reaction? Mito knew that wasn't the cause of her own anxiety, as was mentioned before. So what had her hesitating? She hoped Itachi could somehow help her unearth the answer to that. "I don't even know why I haven't told him already. I's been a month and three weeks since I found out and I still haven't gathered the courage to tell him. I know it will be a cause for celebration and yet ... "
"From what I know, this is called, among commoners, parental anxiety." Her companion said after a short silence. He was smiling gently at her, as though he understood her worries and she had to wonder if he really did. Young as he might be, he very well could have had his own kid. "My mother had waited three weeks before telling father that she was pregnant with my brother despite apparently never hesitating about telling him about me. And they both hesitated with telling the clan."
"And you?" Mito felt herself grin as she relaxed, taking a sip of her tea. It reassured her that other people felt the same as she did. And it was always quite an experience to learn something new about her friend. Itachi was still shrouded in mystery and Tobirama still occasionally followed him around like he used to those first couple of weeks in the Senju hideout. Mito wondered if anyone ever knew all of Itachi's mysteries and how long it had taken them to find and figure it all out. Or if they could give some advice.
"Hahaue told me when she was showing already, maybe five, six months. I know Chichiue was especially nervous about telling me." There was a nostalgic looking smile on Itachi's face, his eyes distant and fond. "He feared how I would react, especially since I was an ... exceptionally mild child and they weren't sure how I would take it. Hahaue had to tell me when I asked her if she was sick after accompanying her to the doctors. I am proud to say I took the news very well."
"Did you want a little brother?" The Uzumaki couldn't help but ask and Itachi surprised her by shaking his head no.
"I never thought about it. I had two older cousins that used to treat me like their younger brother. The older one disappeared on a mission when I was four and was never found, presumed dead. I remember very little of him. The other, Shisui, was my best friend and I truly saw him as an elder brother, so I never even thought about being an older brother myself. When Sasuke was born, though, I remember being flooded with this strange unconditional love for him. It was so surprising and strange. Shisui had to earn my love but here was this essentially little stranger, looking up at me with blurry eyes and I loved him on sight. I would do anything for him." And she could hear it in his voice. The affection he held for this Sasuke, it was enough to envy this unknown boy or teen. And to think this Sasuke threw Itachi's love back in his face ... That made her want to bash his head against the nearest hard surface in hopes of beating some sense into him. But she doubted Itachi would be thankful for such actions if it hurt his little brother. "But my love for my otouto isn't what we were discussing, either. We were talking about the anxiety a parent feels when they first find out about becoming a parent."
She should have known he won't let it go.
"Why do you think is stopping you from telling Hashirama-san? I know you are perfectly aware that he will be thrilled at the news, so what could possibly be holding you back?"
"I really don't know. I was honestly hoping you would be able to tell me."
Itachi arched a fine black, unimpressed eyebrow. "Mito-san, I cannot tell you why you are feeling like this."
"Can't you guess?" The kunoichi asked hesitantly and her companion sighed.
"Very well. Hn." Mito watched as he leaned against the tabletop, twirling his tea around as he studied her. She felt herself sinking deep, deep into his endless eyes, as though she were falling into a sea of ink. She had surprisingly little complaints if something like that were to happen. She trusted Itachi not to let her drown. She honestly saw him like a brother, too, just like the others do. "Could it be leftover worries of giving birth in Butsuma-san's and warring times? It usually takes a lot of time for people to get over wars, even if they never go out on a battlefield. For my parents, it was why it took them almost six years to have Sasuke after me. Maybe you feel that same anxiety for the safety of your child in such insecure times?"
Mito blinked, wondering how she could not have thought of that herself. She remembered how unsettled she had first been when her father had introduced her to Senju Butsuma for the first time. The man was rather cold towards his own men, his own sons. She had known from the very start that any child she gave birth to would have been used as nothing but a damned weapon for the goddamn war against the Uchiha. No woman had wanted to be with child in such a hell. Butsuma had sent his own seven and eleven year old sons out to die at the hands of grieving Uchiha who have lost children as well. Had Hashirama and Tobirama been any less skilled, they, too, would have died before fully coming into their own. Had Itachi not come along, Butsuma would have still been alive and Mito would have lived with dread and fear as her firstborn was turned into a weapon while she was forced to stand by and watch, helpless. Would she have been able to recover from the loss, if her child was killed in battle before his first growth spurt, like the many Senju mothers before her had to? She was not a Senju, who loved the world as a whole. She was an Uzumaki and all of her clan is who she loved and they easily loved more and more people, letting them become a part of their family. The loss of one was unbearable, almost, as they were so used to living freakishly long lives due to their strong blood and chakra. Not at war and with such longevity, loss was very rare and very hard to take.
Losing a child would be ten times worse.
She wondered how the Uchiha women bore with the pain of losing their children, what with their capacity for love and the suffering they endure whenever someone is lost to them. Do they rage first, or do they mourn? They always gave back as good as they got, all of the Uchiha, but the mothers ... Did they used to go tearing apart Senju platoons after losing their children to them? Although, she rarely heard of Uchiha children being killed out in battle. As far as she knew, Izuna and Madara were one of the rare few kids of the Uchiha that went into battle, and that was only because of how skilled they were. Had she married into the Uchiha, would Uchiha Tajima have left her children alone? And if they were ever killed, would she have been allowed to properly mourn them? Butsuma always sneered at tears when he saw sniffling mothers and fathers crying over their lost children. He said they were true and full-fledged shinobi and that they deserved to be honored, not cried over. And worst still, he truly believed that. He never cried after his late wife, he never cried for his killed sons. Senju were not allowed to mourn their fallen. Not under Butusma's leadership.
Itachi had truly ended the fears of all women when he arrived and started opposing Butsuma's idea that war and the total annihilation of the Uchiha was the only answer. Madara always said Butsuma and Tajima were far too much alike so maybe she would not have had peace of mind even if she had been betrothed to an Uchiha, even if she would have had her revenge. It was best that both of them were gone. Finally, the era of too small coffins was at an end.
Mito's child will be the first one born in this peaceful times.
'Ah,' she thought as she felt her anxiety leave her, the chill she had not been aware of in her bones finally seeping out of her in the presence of Itachi's warmth. 'What a wonderful thought.' She hoped this peace lasted so that her grandchildren may one day also be born in a time of peace.
''Yes,'' she answered her friend as she fully relaxed, placing a hand over her stomach. It must have been what gave her way, this new habit she had picked up on as soon as she had felt the stirring of a young new chakra in her belly. Itachi was far too perceptive not to have noticed it at least once, but she is grateful to him for not bringing it up until she did. She was grateful he had accepted her into his home for this talk. She was grateful he was here at all. ''I believe that must have been what was worrying me. Is it strange that that fear is ... simply gone, now?''
The clanless lad chuckled amusedly and finished off his tea just as Kuro Onyx returned from wherever the bird had been. ''Not at all. Sometimes, we cannot cope or accept change, however good or bad it may be, until it is brought to our attention what it is that is bothering us about it. You simply could not detach yourself from the lifestyle you have lead for the past few years until someone brought it to your attention that this was not the same lifestyle you lead back then. It is why humans cannot reach perfection on their own. We always need someone there, even if we are not aware of it or don't want to acknowledge it. You should be fine now, as you let yourself accept that you live in a better time now. Your child will be safe, Mito-san.''
''Thank you,'' she says, and the words have far more meaning than she can convey. Thank you for helping me work out my problems. Thank you for talking to the Uchiha Elders. Thank you for being Tobirama's and Hahsirama's new little brother. Thank you for being our friend. Thank you for showing us peace. Thank you for helping us keep it. Thank you for staying. Thank you for being here. Thank you for living, for being born... Thank you for being who you are. ''Just ... thank you for everything, Itachi.''
Yet she still thinks he understands her, from that affectionate look in his eyes.
''It was a pleasure and an honor, Mito-san.''
