Holy F***ing S***! I just realized that I didn't update the story here! I 'm so sorry. As a treat, you get three chapters instead of one! XD Have fun!
Another reincarnation story
15.
A black gloved hand slammed into the door of Itachi's locker, making everyone around them jump. Itachi didn't even blink.
"What do you want, Kakashi-Taicho?"
"What gave me away?" The Copy-Ninja said cheerfully.
"Only you are suicidal enough to come at me from behind." Even before the words completely left his lips, Itachi was already regretting them. He pressed his forehead against the cool metal and winced.
"Oho," Kakashi giggled. "Someone is being naughty."
"Taicho!"
"Looks like I'm rubbing off on you."
Itachi glared at him. He'd been doing a lot of glaring lately. "Please stop talking while my dignity is still intact."
"What about my dignity?" Kakashi followed as Itachi retrieved his mask and walked towards the briefing room.
"You read adult literature in public," Itachi snickered. "You have no dignity."
A few of the ANBU beside them chuckled. Itachi could tell that Kakashi was grinning behind his mask as well.
"Who are you, what have you done with Itachi?" Kakashi dramatically grasped both his shoulders and shook him slightly. "You just made a joke."
"Which isn't something that should surprise you." Itachi lifted one brow and refused to buckled under Kakashi's one-eye-stare. He jerked his head towards the briefing room and waited until Kakashi followed.
With everything else going on, simple shinobi duty became the more boring part of his life. Itachi long had stopped wondering how this happened. Well, not killing his own family and thus be branded a Nuke-nin would be a start, he figured. By now, the events he changed must have taken root in the world. The ripple effect in the flow of time was probably just catching up, shaping the world into something Itachi wouldn't have recognized.
He found that most exciting and a little frightening. How much had he changed and how was the future unfolding? He calculated that maybe in a few years, he could no longer predict the future by drawing on his past. Maybe in a few years, he would have to plot anew, protecting and saving the world with the best of his ability.
When Itachi left the briefing with his team, a whole new week full of observation and guard duty awaited them. With the chunin-exam happening in the village, none of the ANBU would be leaving for high ranking missions. They would all be busy watching the guests and making sure no outsider did something without them knowing. Also, Itachi and Kakashi's team had the luck of watching the second part of the exam unfolding in the forest of death next week.
Wouldn't that be interesting, watching kids his own age fumble with the simplest jutsu and maybe even be taken down because they couldn't overcome their own ego.
Stop, Itachi told himself. He shouldn't judged other hard-working shinobi just because he was better than them at the age of seven. He shouldn't downplay their personal struggle just because he had dealt with so much more. He should be happy that most of them had something resembling an childhood, something Itachi could hardly remember.
"Alright, people. We have an uneventful week, let's hope it stays uneventful." Itachi announced once they were gathered in the Ko-han lounge. "The written exam starts in three hours, which means we watch the perimeter until they are finished. Make sure these ge-nins don't kill each other until the next part."
"Who's on rotation?" Raven asked.
"Ro-han, Sho-han and us." Itachi answered.
"A bit of overkill, don't you think Taicho?"
"Yeah, three teams with two of Konoha's best," Hawk nodded, looking down at the schedule. "Any trouble we should expect?"
"We should always be prepared." Itachi replied automatically. "But no, nothing in particular."
"If you say so." Bear shrugged, exchanging glaces with his team-mates.
It wasn't the unspoken words that worried Itachi, it was the tone. He knew that they were still all recovering from Itachi's mood-swings last week. He sighed and put down the schedule he was filling out.
"Care to elaborate, Goro?"
"Nothing, Taicho." Goro shrugged again. "We just heard something."
Itachi lifted another brow. Uchihas had very expressive brows and Itachi intended to use it to its full extend.
It was Raven, whose name was Naoki that spoke first. "Edo, Taicho," he blushed slightly. "Word is you've been having trouble with the Kiri-nins."
"Rumors, nothing to be believed." Itachi corrected them quickly. He pinched the bridge of his nose. Sometimes he wonders where the rumors start.
"So you didn't fight the Monster of Mist?" Hyuuga Isamu asked. He was always the first to assume Itachi was at fault.
Itachi punished him with a defeating glare. "We crossed blades when I believed Hokage-sama to be in danger. It was nothing serious, just precaution."
"And then last week in the Dango-shop? You ran... I mean, retreated after meeting him." Naoki looked around, searching his team-mates for support. "Word is you two fought later at the Uchiha training grounds."
"What is this? Am I being interrogated?" Itachi tried to hide his annoyance. He had planed on being nice to his team-mates as an apology for last week. It was as far as he would go. Admitting that he acted out of terms because of romance was more than his Uchiha pride could handle.
"Of course not, Taicho!" Naoki shook his head frankly, waving his hands in defense. "We are just a little worried. Edo... it's like you said, we're a team. I thought it'll put everyone's mind at ease if we could have some explanation. Or disclaim to the rumors."
Cat, the youngest of the all who was usually quiet nodded in agreement.
Itachi sighed in defeat. He did urge them to trust each other, that included himself as well. If he ever wanted them to preform like Ro-han, he should lead by example. "Fine," Itachi grunted. "The rumor is absurd." he denied with the tone of a bored academy teacher. "Me leaving in haste has nothing to do with Hoshigaki-san. He made no appearance anywhere near the Uchiha District. And if I was to fight a shinobi of his caliber with my full skillset, you would have noticed. In fact I gather everyone in Konoha would have noticed."
"What about the Bathhouse?" Goro murmured.
"What about the Bathhouse?" Naoki gasped. "I didn't hear about that!"
"Word is Taicho..."
Itachi cut Goro short before any more nonsense sprout from his lips by simply lifting a finger. Also, Itachi did not need to think about Kisame in a far state of undress, soaking in hot water. "It was an accident due to poor intel. I did not know the Mizukage had commandeered the Bathhouse for herself and her staff, thus disturbed them without ill intend."
Naoki chocked. Itachi's blush probably told him exactly what he wanted to know, that yes, Itachi did walk in on the entire Kiri staff taking a bath together. None needed to know that Itachi had blushed crimson while clutching his towel with a death-grip and fled without saying a single world.
"And yesterday? What's about yesterday?" Naoki was relentless. Itachi suspected that he was enjoying this.
"Urg," He grunted with visible impatience. "Yes, I accounted Hoshigaki-san yesterday on the street. He formally extended an invitation to dinner from the Mizukage for the chief of Konoha-police. I accepted formally in the name of my father. That's all."
"But..." Naoki opened his mouth to ask more but Itachi silenced him with the twitch of an eyebrow.
"Enough," he glared at them all. Great, now he was in a foul mood. "This isn't an interrogation. If there is anything concerning the security of this exam or the village, I would have brought it to Command. Any other interaction between my person and the guest from Kirigakure is none of your business."
"Sorry, Taicho," Naoki looked down at his hands. "We meant well."
"I appreciate it." Itachi sighed. He picked up his schedule, making clear that this conversation is over. He went through the duties for this week then quickly dismissed his team. Once they were out the door, Itachi sunk down on the chair and let out a long sigh.
He was only rewarded a few minutes of silence before he was interrupted by a knock on the door. One second later, Kakashi poked his head around. He chuckled at Itachi and entered the room, followed by Tenzou. At the sight of his former team-mate, Itachi rose from his chair. He hadn't had any opportunity to speak with Tenzou since his last conversation with Shisui. It would be interesting to hear what he had to say.
"You're so dramatic," Kakashi announced as if it was a fact that needed to be stated.
"What did I do this time?" At this point, Itachi had stopped wondering what people say behind his back. Just as Kakashi was the topic of all the talk in Konoha a few years ago, it was his turn now.
"You and the Monster..."
"Not you, too!" Itachi almost whined, hiding his face in his hands. "For the last time, nothing happened between me and Kisame!"
"Kisame?" Kakashi's lifted brow was half behind his headband. "And how is Kisame-san doing?"
"How should I know?" Itachi snapped. "I'm not on guard duty for the Kiri-staff. That's your job! You should go do it!" He stormed out of the room, placing his mask on his face.
He just couldn't wrap his head around why people would want to talk about him and Kisame. To all the people in Konoha, they were strangers, haven met barely weeks ago. To public knowledge, they met four times in total. Twice they were in public and did nothing incriminating. Only those belonging to the inner circle of the two Kages knew how they met blade to blade. That incident shouldn't have reached the public. As for the two more intimate meetings, no one could have known.
Thinking about it, Itachi realized that maybe they did interact with each other more than any other Konoha shinobi with those of another village. It might have been suspicious that they were painfully formal with each other and rigid bordering on alarming. It might also have something to do with the fact that every time they met, Itachi had flushed furiously into the color of his eyes.
"Dammit!" He cursed under his breath as he made way for the Ninja Academy.
-xXx-
When Itachi arrived home after his boring duty, he was immediately attacked by a small ball with dark hair in the shape of his little brother.
"Nii-san!" Sasuke threw himself at Itachi, beaming from head to toe. "You're home! I missed you!"
"I missed you too, Sasuke." Nothing in the world could improve his mood as fast as his smiling, laughing baby brother. Sometimes he admit to himself that he want to snuggle this little perfect human until Sasuke cried with laughter.
"You must come quickly!" Sasuke was jumping up and down before Itachi, anticipation radiating off him in waves.
"Sasuke!" Their Mother called from inside the house. "Let your brother put his shoes down first!"
"What's the matter, Sasuke?" Itachi asked, ignoring the Uchiha matron.
"Come on! You must see this!"
With Sasuke pulling at Itachi, he had no choice but to follow. The little Uchiha dragged Itachi into his own room and vigorously pointed at a Haori and Kimono hanging at the back of the room. If not for the bouncing Sasuke was doing next to Itachi, reminding him to control himself, the genius might have fallen on his ass.
"Sasuke..." Itachi stammered. "What is this?"
"Kaa-san made us new clothes! She says we must wear it to the dinner with the Mizukage tonight!" Sasuke explained excitedly. "She asked me which color I like and I said white!" Sasuke pointed at his own Kimono, which was black with white bamboo pattern printed across the fabric. "But she said an Uchiha should wear black, so I have only a little white."
"But my... my kimono..." Itachi couldn't continue. His eyes were fixed on his new wardrobe. Other than his brother enthusiasm for the new wardrobe, Itachi just wanted to burn his own.
"Isn't it pretty? She asked me which color you'd like and I said red. Red suits you so well." Sasuke was babbling and Itachi wasn't listening.
His eyes were filled with a piece of art. It was a dark shade of blue, like Kisame's hair. The rims of his clothes were embroidered with crimson thread, like his eyes. But the most prominent feature were the red clouds in transitional style that covered the whole of the garment. Itachi knew they were to reflect the fire in him that even inflamed the sky. It was to underline the power of the first son of Uchiha.
Maybe under other circumstances, Itachi would have loved it. Now, all he could see was his old Akatsuki robe. He swallowed hard, blinking his tears away. He looked down at his brother who was eying him intensely.
"Are you alright, Nii-san? Don't you like it?"
"Don't worry, Sasuke. Nii-san likes them very much. Thank you." He placed a gentle hand on Sasuke's shoulder and directed him towards the door. "I'd like to change now. Please tell Kaa-san that I will be down when I'm ready."
"Don't you need help?" Sasuke asked. "Kaa-san says binding an obi is hard."
"Don't worry, I can make a bunshin." Itachi tried to smile.
"Nii-san, you're awesome!"
Before Sasuke could exclaim more words of admiration, Itachi was already closing his door in Sasuke's face. He turned around to stare at his new clothes and then raised his head towards his ceiling to ask Kami just why?
But he had no choice. His mother would be insufferable if he didn't wear what she had prepared for him. It was probably approved by his father as well. Luckily, Itachi didn't need any help getting into the complicated wardrobe. He still had plenty of experience from his maiko mission.
When he finally came down from his room, his mother was already at the entrance, fixing Sasuke's Obi. She glanced up at him and nodded in respect. Sasuke had a grin on his that was almost splitting.
"Nii-san looks so beautiful!" He waved at Itachi. But before he could come running, their mother caught him and dragged him back to pamper over him some more. Itachi did not envy him.
He was alerted by a presence behind him and quickly turned around to meet his father's eyes. Their relationship had been respectful, but cold ever since Itachi used his advanced Tsukuyomi on him. To be honest, Itachi wasn't very displeased to spend less time with his father. He had hopes that maybe one day Fugaku wouldn't need his directing hand to become a good leader of the clan.
"A word, Itachi." Fugaku ordered in his usually stern voice.
"Yes, Father." Itachi followed him to the porch, where he remained standing two yards away from his sire.
"You understand that this dinner tonight is very formal and important for the Uchiha Clan," Fugaku started. "We are the first clan to receive this honor. It means the Mizugaku is interested in a special alliance with us."
"I understand."
"I expect you to entomb whatever conflict you might have with Hoshigaki-san and be on your best behavior." Fugaku didn't give Itachi any chance to reply but continued his lecture. "It is time for you to distant yourself from your duty as an ANBU agent and accept your place as the Heir of the Uchiha Clan. Thus, as my heir and the future leader of our clan, I will tolerate no objections to all subjects discussed tonight."
"Am I to be muzzled?"
"Don't be cheeky," his father commanded. "It isn't about you, but the Clan. It is clan business, so there is no need to report to the Hokage."
"I understand."
"Also, your cousin Shisui will be present as well. I didn't want to invite him, but he is the highest ranking shinobi in our clan after all. I have given him clear instruction. Despite his immature behavior, he is a very skillful shinobi. He might become your second one day. So, I expect you to keep an eye on him and discipline your subordinate should the situation call all for it." Fugaku seemed genuinely worried. Itachi understood it all too well. From all among the Uchihas present tonight, Shisui had fought the longest and hardest against Kiri. His hostility towards Ao would be a problem tonight. But if Fugaku thought Itachi would punish Shisui for his feelings, he was a bigger fool than Itachi thought.
"Now come," the clan-leader commanded, marching back towards the door. "Do not disappoint me tonight."
Itachi dragged himself behind his father, counting in his head everything that could go wrong tonight. From Sasuke embarrassing them to Shisui and Ao at each other's throats, everything was in Itachi's head. He tried to anticipate what his father and the Mizukage would want to talk to each other about, but thought it useless until they meet. If everything went as his father planed, Itachi would have no use but to be pretty next to them and maybe occasionally boast a little with his achievement.
They met Shisui at the entrance of the Uchiha District. The older shinobi winked at Itachi and chatted happily with Sasuke. Itachi had to admit, they make a very pretty picture. The Uchiha was naturally graced with fine features. Shrouded in fine silk and expensive perfume, they seemed less ninja and more aristocrat. They reminded Itachi of the family of the Shogun he entertained years ago. It was only logical that they drew many glances on their way.
The place Mizukage picked out was among Konoha's best. Itachi had never been here before and didn't know what to expect. He didn't even know that they needed a written invitation to past the front desk. Interesting, his mother seemed to know the owner already.
"Fancy place," Shisui commented. "I think I saw a geisha back there."
Itachi threw the passing woman a quick glance. "She's maiko."
"What's a maiko, Nii-san?"
"A geisha in training." Itachi said, smiling down at Sasuke's big eyes. "Just like you. They need to past a trail and then become full-fledged geisha."
"They sure are pretty," Shisui whistled.
"How do you know!" Sasuke sneered, mischief in his eyes, mixed with a hint of arrogance. "You don't even like girls."
"Shh!" Shisui hissed. "You little shit, I know it was you! Some ninja you'll be, can't keep one small secret."
"Quiet, you two." Mikoto snapped back at them. "Behave, or you're both grounded."
"Auntie Mikoto, but I have my own apartment." Shisui reminded her in good humor.
"I'll find a way, believe me Shisui." Said Mikoto supplemented by a glare worthy of an Uchiha. Shisui and Sasuke both fell silent immediately. It didn't stop Sasuke grinning triumphantly at Shisui though or Shisui smacking Sasuke's head.
When they arrived at the designated room, the maid knelt down the push the door to the side. Inside, the guests were already waiting. They all turned towards the Uchihas and bowed. All but Kisame who stared at Itachi with round eyes and trembling lips. In his stupor, the Uchiha genius forgot all his manners and didn't return the welcoming gesture. So for this moment as all the backs were bowed, Itachi remained standing, facing his once lover in the robe that so resembled that of their shared past life.
When he thought Shisui would be the problem tonight, he was so wrong.
Because Itachi was human and thus prone to his own desires. Especially, if Kisame was looking at him like he wanted to undress him on the spot, while wearing what Itachi thought was an obscenely inviting yukata himself.
I'm so fucked!