What horrors do his crimson eyes behold? These are the unfathomable depths of Uchiha Itachi.
I don't own Naruto nor do I profit from these writings in any way.
"Speaking"
"Thinking"
"Demon"
Oboe
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Blue jays flew over head, twisting and flipping through the air. The murmur of people going about their everyday lives in Konoha, served as a backdrop to the stirring minuets of birdsong. Off of the main thoroughfare, down a side alley leading to a back street filled with warehouses, there was a mysterious lurking shadow. The figure stalked silently through a junk-filled yard, moving in short fits and bursts. It shifted carefully from cover, edging slowly at first, before traveling to another pile of debris at a brisk, but unhurried pace. After a few minutes, the shadow had made its way to the side of an abandoned warehouse in Konoha's business sector. The shade short scrub tree broke up the individual's outline as it leaned against the warehouse's wall. Stopping under a window, the figure slowly stood and for just a second, dark eyes peered around the edge of the sill.
Zzz-Pzzt- "Red one to Oversight, target identified, repeat target identified." -zzzt
Bzzt-"Roger Red one, Oversight to Red two and three, by the numbers people." –Pzzzt
ZZzt-crackle-"I read you Oversight, Red two in position." –zzzzt
Zzzzzt-zzzzt-pzzzzt- "Pretty…" -zzzzt
ZZzt- "…" –zzzt
Pzzzt- "…" –Bzzzt
Crackle-zzzt "…!" Czzzt
Zzzzt- "Useless…" zzzt
Bzzzyt- "Pay attention Suzume!" –static-crackle
Zzzzt- "Eeek! Red three in position! Um, sorry?" –pzzzt
ZZzzt- "Stay focused, Red One, Red Two, watch the exits, Red Three flush the target out!" -zzzt
Bzzzt- "Hai!" –bzzt
Czzzt- "Hai!" –pzzt
Pzzt- "Hai" –zzzt
Zzt- "Arf!" –zzzt
His great-great-great grandfather had moved here years ago during the reformation of land for the purpose of business under the Nidaime. Although the Village was first and foremost a military installation, the fact that many of the town's citizens were born and raised on this land meant that Konoha also had to be a place where people could live and learn and have fun. The human aspect of life could not be denied lest all forget just what they were fighting for, their children's future.
As part of the reality of life in a partially civilian town, commercial districts had to be established, and since for security reasons all items going into Konoha had to be carefully screened, a place was needed to keep these goods and wares. Hence, the creation of the Warehouse District in Konoha. They had moved into Building Three about that time and several generations had endured the stresses and strains of wars, fires and even an attempted sabotage of the items stored within. Even though only non-essential goods were stored in such an open location, his family had profited greatly and proliferated with ease. Now, his life, was about to end. Although he himself was only vaguely cognizant of that fact on an instinctual level, the yellow, malevolent eyes, the toothy grin and the posture that screamed of a predator stalking prey all boded ill for his future prospects.
Just as the great beast was about to pounce, a hail of shuriken thudded into the ground between them startling his foe. He squeaked in relief and scuttled away as his antagonist fled in the other direction. He looked back from safety as another form burst in from a side door and almost caught the fiend. Four curved blades slashed at the boy's face sending him reeling backward to avoid losing an eye. The boy's partners had already blocked off the door. The fleeing fugitive was forced to make a desperate leap through a nearby window, hoping for a way out.
Bzzzt- "Got him." -zzzt
Zzzt- "Good work Itachi, everyone!" –zzzt
"Lets get out of here Nadeshiko, I thought I saw a rat."
"Arf!"
"You coming, Hideo-kun?"
"Hn."
The two gathered outside, where they found their Sensei and third teammate waiting. Moriko stood watching Itachi who hadn't moved from his seated position since the operation began. In his lap purring, lay Kurou-chan, Uchiha Akane's pet Balinese long-hair. The elderly shopkeeper had reported that the two-year old had run away from her sweet manjuu store and had been missing for a few weeks before she decided to commission a D-rank mission to find her lost cat. She had been worried after some of her neighbors had mentioned that the recent rain storms had caused some of the village's alley cats to die. Itachi absentmindedly stroked the thrumming cat behind her ears as he idly thought about his missions to date.
A glance to the side told him that Hideo was gingerly touching his nose while muttering soft imprecations about cats in general and Kurou-chan in particular. No doubt the boy thought that the fact that the cat had run straight for Itachi was proof of some dark conspiracy against him. Suzume, was staring at her feet when Moriko-sensei began to give her evaluations. The jounin had her hands on her hips as she spoke to them with a slight smile.
"O.K. mission recover Kurou-chan, success. Suzume you need to be more focused on the mission in the future, there will be times when lapses in attention can be fatal in the field and while on guard duty. Hideo, nice work driving the cat toward Itachi although you overcommitted when you broke cover too soon, if Nadeshiko hadn't been there to back you up, our objective would have escaped. Itachi, you did a good job of waiting to let Kurou-chan come to you, sometimes force cannot be used to solve all problems. Although, if that cat hadn't recognized you we'd probably still be chasing her, you need to show more initiative, like Hideo."
Itachi slowly nodded to show that he understood what his sensei meant, as Suzume blushed in embarrassment and Hideo looked away. Gestering for Itachi to stand and for her students to follow her, Moriko turned and started to head for the Mission-Assignment Center of the Hokage's building. Raising her hand to get their attention she spoke.
"We have time to get another mission if we hurry, lets go."
Itachi tried walking slower…
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Two weeks earlier.
Two of the three new genin stood on the roof of the academy. The Hyuuga was atop a telegraph pole. His hands in a dragon seal, his vision expanded to cover fully a third of Konoha. This was the third time that he noted down for his teammates the places that fit the description of what Itachi said they should be looking for. Her kage-bunshin hid behind a complex weave of illusion that he should miss as long as he didn't look too closely.
With that final task done, the Hyuuga met his teammates on the ground and told them of the six locations that he had found. The Uchiha boy picked out a roadside stall that sold sweets as the likeliest candidate and they set off Inuzuka in the lead. The clone dispelled.
In front of a certain roadside stall, a jounin kunoichi smirked. It seems that she had picked up some cute ducklings.
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Present
Suzume sighed as she sat down in the middle of Hotaru-san's herb garden.She'd been spending her time weeding and removing pests by hand. She had despairingly failed to prevent Nadeshiko from giving one of the bright-green, furry-looking caterpillars an experimental bite.
"Eeeww."
The pup had literally dragged her tongue across the ground in order to get rid of the taste and whimpered pitifully until Suzume had begged permission to get some water to flush the dog's mouth. She seemed better now but Suzume mentally laid plans to take the dog to the vet to make sure that the bug hadn't been poisonous. Their second mission of the day was more tedious than time-consuming as the genin quickly uprooted all of the weeds but had to meticulously check every plant for signs of pest infestation. Itachi and Hideo seemed to be playing a ridiculous game of one-upmanship or rather Itchai seemed to be tricking Hideo into doing his share of the work.
Hideo would make a snide comment about little kids getting tired and Itachi would either pull out more weeds than the Hyuuga or finish inspecting his share of plants sooner. In order to not be upstaged, Hideo would markedly increase his efforts to uproot more weeds than Itachi or insist on inspecting Itachi's plants. The way things worked out, Hideo ended up doing both his share and two thirds of Itachi's share of the labor. Moriko-sensei only shook her head in amusement as she watched the young Hyuuga overwork as Itachi relaxed in the shade sleeping.
"Boys…"
The mission was completed by mid-afternoon and the three children separated to go their different ways after they were dismissed by their sensei. To Suzume's surprise Moriko-sensei beckoned for her to stay behind. The girl blushed as Hideo watched her consideringly for a moment before walking away. Itachi was already nowhere to be found. Suzume focused on her jounin instructor's mouth and tried her best not to get caught up in those hypnotic eyes.
"Oh Lord! The Sparkles!"
"-and that's why…Hey! Are you listening to me girl?"
Suzume started in reaction to Moriko's raised tone and the older woman sighed in exasperation.
"I'm sorry sensei."
Moriko gave her a wry grin and started to speak again.
"As I was saying, it seems that you have some pretty hyperactive senses, even for an Inuzuka and I think that you should try asking a member of your clan for help in dealing with them as they seem to be messing with your concentration."
Suzume's eyes widened in surprise and her voice took on an amazed tone as she considered the possibility for the first time. Her face brightened as she spoke to her teacher with a smile.
"I'd never thought of it like that since I've always been this way. Thank you, Sensei!"
"Tie that hair into a ponytail and dress her in a formal military uniform. My Prince!!"
Moriko took in the girl's dreamy expression and shrugged in answer to the Hokage's amused look of curiosity.
"I hope this works out for you, but I guess that it'll take time for things to change."
"The Sparkles!"
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Hyuuga Hideo was not an idiot; let's get that one thing clear. He firmly believed in the right time and manner for all things in the world and acted accordingly. That Itachi wasn't capable of keeping up on the more strenuous missions was painfully clear no matter how he tried to hide that fact. Even their sensei had finally caught on to the truth today. The poor kid had needed a freaking Midday nap during their mission, hah!
Still it worried him to think of what they would do for their more dangerous missions, that is, if they were ever assigned more dangerous missions with someone like Itachi on the team. He rolled his shoulders as he thought, easing the aches in his back and arms. If nothing else, the menial labor that they had been forced to perform would strengthen their bodies later on.
Hideo sighed as he greeted his cousins at the gate before making a beeline for the bathhouse. He managed to avoid any of his female cousins, not that he was trying to, on the way to the baths. Resting in the pool, he noticed the head of the branch family Hyuuga Hizashi walk in with his infant son Neji. Hideo straightened his back but Hizashi merely waved to him to continue sitting. The two year old Neji shyly looked at Hideo with large, cloudy lavender eyes, from behind his father. Hideo nodded politely at the boy as his father entered the baths. Neji blushed slightly at the response and ducked his head when he noticed his father observing the interaction with a soft smile.
Tugging the young boy into the water, Hizashi ignored his son's soft protests and small flailing arms as he washed behind the boy's ears. Hideo quietly observed Neji's unblemished forehead before ducking his own curse-marked head below the water. Scrubbing his hair and trying to wash away not the accumulated dirt of the day but a strange sense of melancholy.
"Fate."
Leaving the baths refreshed, Hideo made his way to the branch family's training hall. Meeting with his father at the entrance, Hideo bowed.
"Greetings, my son."
"Greetings, father."
Hideo followed his father into the training hall and sat before him on the floor.
"Tell me of your day son."
And so he did, careful to remain fully respectful of his sensei and teammates. He answered his father's questions as best he could and expounded when needed. It took some effort to be objective in his opinions about Itachi but the elder Hyuuga read between the lines. The conversation continued until Hizashi and Neji entered the room.
The two took a seat to the side, with a healthily, flushed Neji looking at Hideo and his father with poorly concealed excitement. Noting where Hideo's attention had gone, his father began to stand as he answered his son's unspoken question.
"Neji-kun will be at an age where he can begin to learn jyuken in another few months. Until then he will be observing the training of the older children."
Hideo nodded and, after bowing, lowered himself into a ready stance with one leg and hand slightly extended forward, palm facing his father, slightly stooped with a straight back, and one leg firmly under him with his knee and elbow facing away from his body. His father examined his stance before initiating the first strike. Hideo's corneas took on a hardened appearance as the blood vessels in and about his eyes began to stand out. Redirecting the first attack and the feint and attack combination that followed Hideo allowed the day's worries to ease from his mind as he began training in earnest.
Hyuuga Neji watched with tons of curiosity but limited understanding as the older people danced. The movements were flowing and entrance with strange slaps that sounded like splashing water. Pudgy cheeks dimpled as his mouth widened in amazement, the younger one had just done an acrobatic cartwheel. It looked exciting would he truly be learning how to do that? Neji's father Hizashi smiled at his son's innocent pleasure.
"Something that can never be taken away from you Neji."
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The twentieth time up the tree nearly killed him. It was also an excellent test of his chakra manipulation skills. After he had graduated the guards who had been stalking Itachi seemed to have disappeared, the ones that he could sense at least. There was always a fleeting presence when he was in the forest that told him whether or not he was truly alone. Not that it mattered, whether or not he was watched, Itachi religiously practiced his chakra control and physical exercises.
On some days he meditated on the surface of a secluded pond, practicing keeping the surges of chakra from disrupting his hold on the surface of the water. At times he did it while balancing a leaf in the palm of his hand or while exercising or reading a scroll. He practiced tree walking until he had mastered the skill even with kage-bunshin throwing rocks at him as a distraction. He had continued with a number of training regimes, some of which he was sure had come from the Shinrabanshou. Unfortunately, Itachi found that many of the ideas that came to him were not feasible due to his small stature. This fact didn't however stop him from trying out the training techniques that he could use.
The clearing had been filled with several wooden stakes with their blunt ends sticking out of the ground at uneven levels and at various angles. If he fell on them it would hurt but that was just part of the motivation to succeed. Nine kage-bunshin soon joined him after a hand seal and they began a light spar, using chakra at the sole of his feet to balance on the uneven stakes. He had fallen twice, gouging his back the second time. The wound had healed overnight and he was back to training.
"Anything it takes."
The incident with the tree however, wasn't due to any fault on Itachi's part. He had been spending the evening after Moriko dismissed his team doing tree walking exercises. Twenty repetitions didn't even wind him any more and just as he had reached the top of the tree and was taking in the scenic vista of Konoha from above, he blacked out.
It was a sudden sharp pain that felt like someone had poked his eyes with hot needles. His vision went dark and then his eyes felt like they were burning. In the back of his mind he could hear a faint chanting. One moment he was standing atop a tree and the next he was falling, but not falling. He was in a shadowy world with a red sky illuminated by a crimson moon. Shadowy sealing script seeped painfully out of the pores of his skin, each symbol linked to a memory.
There was so much to know and do. He was fighting for his life on a battle field, his arm was severed but just his right hand and a sword was enough cover to distract their attention from his allies' pincer movement. He had been impaled by a branching piece of bone in a veritable forest of bones. He was loosing a lot of blood but the enemy had deliberately missed hitting anything that would instantly kill him. The fool wanted to gloat, counting on the agony to incapacitate his prey. As long as he lived to walk away from this fight nobody cared how he won. Pushing aside all outward distractions he reached for the clashing chakras and began to summon lightning. There was certain nerve bundles which created a riot of pain when cut or burned of shocked with electricity. His prisoner screamed in agony, begging pleading, having abandoned all pretences of dignity, blood-flecked lips uttering confessions for every past crime real or imagined. Her information had already been issued up the chain of command this was not about duty to his village anymore.
This bitch and her friends had been laughing, giving deep belly-rolling guffaws about the things that they had done to his… The ways that they had defiled his… Red eyes closed as he forcibly calmed himself. Carefully picking up the knife coated in disinfectant he caressed an area of unblemished skin.
"Hotarubi, you were so beautiful."
The prisoner's single remaining eye looked at him wildly as she tried to flinch away. The drugs in her system kept her completely lucid so that she couldn't faint from the pain. Her tongue had already been removed early on so that she wouldn't be able to bite it off and swallow it, drowning her self in blood and suffocating to death. The jutsu on her voice box allowed her to scream and curse and beg and plead to her hearts desire. A good thing too since he had also pulled out her teeth.
Making a tiny incision in the muscle of her thigh, he sliced away a thin strip of skin. And set it on the makeshift frying pan. Cackling as she screamed herself hoarse, bloodshot sharingan eyes took in every detail of his vengeance.
"Enough meat to keep you alive for days!"
The horrors of war, the techniques and memories of thirty one elder Uchiha had been given up for him. All for those memories were for him. Itachi wanted to puke as his eyes watered but at the last second through a tremendous act of will, he pulled away from the storm and reached out to the bark of the tree. Chakra flaring about his hands as he struggled to maintain a firm grip. His breath left his body with a great whoosh as his chest slammed into the side of the tree.
He carefully slid the rest of the way to the ground as his heart raced. Itachi, his name was Itachi! Itachi sank to his knees and leaned his head against the bark. His mind was already integrating what he had learned, turning past experiences to the analysis of current problems. Gathering himself, Itachi struggled to his feet and with a cross shaped seal summoned his kage-bunshin into being. They looked as badly as he felt but also as determined. Picking up some of the branches that had fallen with him, they fashioned bokken. Gripping the stick in two hands, he had two! The Kage-bunshin charged.
"Anything it takes. At all cost!"
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The shadowy figure released the genjutsu on the Anbu. Turning to his partner he growled.
"You know that was some sadistic shit right?"
The man beside him only smirked as he licked his lips. "What doesn't kill him can only make him tastier."
"Fuckin' psycho."
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AN: This will be the last one for a while as things are picking up for me. Don't take the torture scene to heart, it's pretty tame compared to the stuff my brother likes to watch in movies and I just thought of the things that I wouldn't like to see. Itachi won't be having those fits too often, the one in the tree was deliberately triggered.