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"
Ekusasaizu
Ekusasaizu
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Itachi-kun!"
"Gai-sensei!"
"Itachi-kun!!"
"Gai-sensei!!"
"Itachi-kun!!"
"Gai-sensei!!"
"Let our youth overflow!"
A great foamy white spurt flew high into the air before crashing back down upon the two boys who held one another in a great sweaty, manly hug that was at once tender yet hard. The water washed over the rocks and flowed back into a sea colored by the orange and pale-gold highlights of the light reflected by the morning sun. Their silhouettes were outlined by a sparkling glare as their shadows stretched out beneath them.
"Seishun!"
Murasaki Moriko, jounin sensei to team nine consisting of, Inuzuka Suzume, Hyuuga Hideo and Uchiha Itachi; was beginning to turn a little green in the face as she pushed aside the disturbing mental picture that had come upon her as she watched joint physical training between her team and the self-proclaimed eternal rival, self-proclaimed dashingly youthful, self-proclaimed green beast of Konoha. It wasn't as if Moriko was unaware or disparaging of the young jounin's skill. The kid was a little spastic but essentially a well rounded, determined and intelligent ninja. Of his skills Moriko had no issue, of his mannerism and habits, well she'd seen ninja that encased themselves in cocoons and mutated into vastly different forms, so Maito Gai's antics weren't a problem. It was the fact that Itachi seemed to have taken everything that Gai said at face value.
"O-Kami-sama!"
She had just returned from The director's room where she had been arranging the time at which the film crew would begin traveling. She had also spent time learning about the different problems that could occur and procedures for protecting different types of equipment. Since these were things that she could do herself, Moriko had left her nonplussed team with a rather excitable Gai who had offered to help train them when she had mentioned their need for better physical conditioning.
"Don't worry sempai!" He had said, "If they can't do a thousand push ups in a half-hour then they'll do two thousand lunges with each leg, if they can't do that, then they'll go for a short jog, backward on their hands, if they can't do that, then they'll run a four legged race while carrying a three hundred pound log!"
She had wanted to say something but the dawning look of horror on those sweet little genin faces was just too cute. It wasn't like Gai would really force them to use the self-imposed rule, would he?
What she had found upon returning to her team was Nadeshiko lying on her side exhausted with Suzume and Hideo on their hands and knees looking on incredulously as Itachi and Gai skipped and hopped in place in an alternating series of jumping-jacks, squats, push ups, lunges and pull-up jumps. Perhaps more unsettling to his teammates was the fact that Itachi was currently wearing a combination navy blue spandex tank-top and pants, over the tank-top was a bright yellow wife-beater with the words, 'Daikon is good for my colon' stenciled on the front. On his arms and legs were bright yellow wristbands and legwarmers. Wearing a bland look on his face in spite of Moriko's unabashed horror, Itachi hopped in place on one leg as he waved to her.
"Yahoo! Itachi-kun your youthful stamina shines through! As a reward you and your friends will now switch to a thousand punches and kicks!"
Suzume groaned at Gai's words and fell on her face, her butt was stuck comically in the air. Hideo gamely tried to stand but his efforts were for naught as black spots began to spin at the edges of his vision and he keeled backward and fell to the ground in a fit of lightheadedness. Moriko immediately made her way over to her collapsed students and reaching into her backpack withdrew a flask of water. Pouring some on Hideo's and Suzume's heads she waited until they came awake before commanding them to share the water in the flask.
As Moriko took in Suzume's awed expression and Hideo's sullen look as they gazed at Itachi who was still going, she decided to call Gai's training session to an end. It didn't escape her notice that even though Maito Gai seemed to be panting slightly from this 'light' exercise Itachi looked as calm and composed as he always did, directing a slightly bemused look at her as if to ask, 'Over so soon?'
Long before Moriko first encountered Itachi training on his own she had known that he did a lot of self-training before meeting with his team, enough in fact to leave the seven and a half year old boy slightly exhausted during missions. She hadn't spoken up since Itachi had always completed the work allotted to him, even if he did so while giving a minimum of effort. Seeing that Itachi capable of withstanding five hours of Maito Gai's brutal training regime even at hal-pace Moriko wondered about the boy's stamina. She wondered just how hard Itachi must have been training in order to look slightly exhausted during training and missions.
"This must be a side-effect of having the Kyuubi sealed inside. His senses and stamina seem to have been heightened. I wouldn't be surprised if his chakra capacity was larger than mine or even Gai's. He hasn't had an opportunity to bleed off his excess energy since arriving in Wakazi town with us so he's giving his all."
Itachi seemed to finally notice the looks that Hideo and his Sensei were giving him. Trotting lightly over to sit on Suzume's right, Itachi lightly used his wrist band to mop up a non-existent drop of sweat on his forehead. "Whew!" He sighed, although his tone seemed to be more bored than exhausted. Carefully looking away from his teammate and jounin instructor he blandly said, "That was kind 'a exhausting."
Deciding not to bring up the matter of Itachi's unusual stamina Moriko pointed at his clothes and asked in a restrained manner. "What is that, and where did you get it?"
Itachi blinked as he slowly took in her question looked at what currently passed for his clothes and then, predictably in Moriko's opinion, pointed over to Maito Gai and with a dry voice said. "He did it."
Oblivious to the undercurrent of distaste flavoring the conversation Gai placed his hands on his hips, threw his head back and laughed deep, boisterous chuckles. The sun glinted off of his hair and perfect teeth as the glare seemed to awaken Suzume, who fell onto her side with blades of grass in her mouth. "HA, HA, HA, AHA! I see that you have discovered the wonders of SPANDEX Moriko-sempai." Gai said.
"I asked him for training tips." Itachi interjected.
Striking a bodybuilder's pose Gai winked at her as he continued." A sleek, form fitting, battle suit that allows one to enter into battle completely unhindered yet, it provides protection from the elements! It's even better than going nude!"
Hideo shuddered at the thought as a grass filled puddle of drool formed under Suzume's cheek.
"He said it was very fashionable too." Itachi blandly added.
"Fortunately we arrived at a bargain store that was having a most auspicious sale." Gai boomed.
"They were giving them away for free, they said that they couldn't get rid of them quickly enough." Itachi commented.
"Can you BELIEVE that they sold them at such a mark down? I got four bales for Itachi-kun and myself."
"Thank you Gai-sense!"
"You're welcome Itachi-kun!"
"Gai-sensei!"
"Itachi-kun!"
"Gai-sensei!!"
"Itachi-kun!!"
"Gai-sense-urk!!"
"Err, Urk?"
The world lurched for Itachi as Moriko-sensei pulled him away from the gradually approaching Gai by his collar. He recovered easily and hid a smile at the slightly panicked look and slight blush of embarrassment on her cheeks. With a forced smile she waved off the disappointed Gai and gestured to her other two students to carry on with their training. As Gai's enthusiastic voice began to boom to a chorus of two strangled groans and a high-pitched whine, Itachi smirked. "Got out of training with Maito Gai early and still learned some useful exercises."
"Heh, Evil Itachi."
"Itachi-kun, I think its time we take about proper ninja fashion." Moriko-sensei purred sweetly. Turning to look at him with a strangely fanatical and extremely unnerving look the older teen grinned as her eyes roamed over Itachi's body in a manner that left him feeling exposed and somewhat dirty. "It seems that I can't trust your sense of fashion."
"Oh, Oh…"
Leaning toward the nervous boy she said. "We're going shopping!"
"Nooooooooooooooo! Damn you Evil Itachi!!"
Evil Itachi was so evil he sometimes didn't even spare himself.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Lee Wu Fong fell through the air with a sharp whistling sound the hilt of the great mystical blade of Wu Dong was clasped in his right hand as he slowly began to free the weapon from its sheath that was on his back.
"Dashi!" He screamed as his form plummeted from the moonlit sky. The blade of Wu Dong, Shikyoutengu no Tenyou no Tsurugi was a six foot long zanbatou or special cavalry cutting sword. The tale of its creation was legendary.
Thirty minutes earlier.
Once, the Great Crimson Emperor of Edowa was beset by entreaties from his subjects in the borderlands begging him to slay a most fearsome foe. A monstrous and evil dragon known as Daikaiteitengu and a horde of lesser monsters were attacking the outer provinces of the Crimson Emperor's empire.
The nobles of the inner provinces who lived at the Emperors court had made light of the problem posed by the rampaging monsters and had sought to immerse the Emperor in petty delights. The First Minister at the time, however, knew of the great calamity and aided the lords of the outer provinces in securing the ear of the Emperor.
Incensed at the feckless natures of his court nobles the Crimson Emperor commanded that the court nobles contribute from their own purses towards the creation of a dragon slaying sword.
Eager to regain imperial favor, the nobles jockeyed for position with each other racing to be the first to provide the emperor with his sword. Time after time nobles presented the Crimson Emperor with jewel encrusted tanto, wakazashi, katana, chokuto, o-katana, and o-dachi. Swords made from silver and pale gold, swords encrusted with emeralds and rubies set into the blades themselves, even a sword made from glass and fine-spun silk was set before the emperor.
Blade upon blade was inspected. The body of one of the rampaging monsters that had been killed and brought to the capital by Imperial Youjutsusha was lain over a rock of iron ore. Blade upon blade was tested against the beast's flesh and blade upon blade, each failed. Swords of silver and gold, warped and twisted upon limp grey limbs, swords with blades encrusted with emeralds and rubies snapped into pieced upon armored torso, swords of glass and fine spun silk shattered ineffectually upon bared neck. Deeper and deeper the Crimson Emperor's rage grew until he declared that a chest of ryo, the combined shattered remnants of all the failed swords, and the honorary position of Second Minister would go to the one who brought the Emperor a true dragon-slaying sword.
Days passed and the people despaired, a week had passed since the Crimson Emperor's proclamation. Then, one day, a gaunt old man with gnarled and twisted limbs, shambled into the Imperial Court. The Court Nobles sneered at the man clad in rags and dismissed both him and the muscular youth who followed behind him carrying a large oblong parcel.
After six months of waiting, this old blacksmith had finally been allowed to breathe the same air as the Crimson Emperor, though even the disciplined Majordomo cringed at the elder's disgusting clothes and coarse manner. Sketching an awkward bow that was mimicked by the flushing youth to the gentle tittering of courtesans, father and son at last held court with the Emperor of Edowa.
"My lord, yer moss' gracious emmenens', I be hearing the call for a sword that can kill a dragon." The wizened elder's voice drifted in the air in a thin but strident dialect. Gesturing to his son the old man had the boy present the blade wrapped in oilskin. Six feet long from the sharply angled tip of the single edged blade to the end of the hilt wrapped in tough sharkshin, the weapon was unadorned.
Without festoons of jewelry the weapon was wedge shaped along its length and was three inched thick and a foot in breadth at its widest point. Looking more like a slab of metal with a sharpened edge, the nobles and even the First Minister were unimpressed. The court nobles immediately began laughing seeking to mock the old man and deride his weapon.
"That thing," They said, "Was absurdly long and ugly."
Another noble, the one who had presented a glass sword, spoke up. "That ugly rippling design," He said, looking at the deep blue wave like patterns along the blade. "Those discolored flecks that look like waves crashing upon a shore are obviously a cosmetic addition that compromised the strength of the blade."
The foppish man smiled as the youth beside the old vagabond bristled at the insult and barely held his tongue. The courtesan had hoped to be rid of the uncouth even if deliciously strapping young lad and his intelligible troglodyte of a forebear. The old man cowed his son with a glare and to the gathered Generals he spoke. "I be hearing tha' dem dragons be mighty big? Den yous be needin' a mighty big sword, neh? "
The court was in uproar until the First Minister commanded silence upon threat of violence. At his direction the sword was placed upon a stand in the Imperial Courtyard that creaked under the strain of supporting the blade's weight and needed to be reinforced. By three more pairs of stands along the weapon's length. With the Crimson Emperor's leave, a heavily perfumed corpse of a monster was brought out on the iron boulder. Then the General of the West approached to lift the sword.
He failed to lift it.
This caused a murmur to pass through the crowd of nobles. The general of the West was a squat man five feet tall whose muscles were impressively muscled even in his fiftieth year. The seated generals laughed raucously until the gasping General gestured for someone else to try to lift the blade. The smirking General of the East, a young and tall man in his mid-twenties stepped up to the challenge. His body stood tall at six feet, impressive for that era and he was the second tallest of the generals. With a confident look, both of his hands grasped the hilt and heaved.
He failed to lift it or even budge the weapon.
The murmur became a sea of whispers rising and swelling in the wind. The vindicated General of the West called back the straining General of the East before he hurt himself. The portly General of the South stepped forward and even the best that he could do was the shift the blade slightly. Finally, the Great General of the North who had served under his Imperial Majesty's father stepped forth. At seventy-eight years the white haired man had lost none of his six and a half feet of height, nor had the strength faded from the great muscular chest that looked more like a slab of veined marble, or the arms and hands that could snap a bull's neck. He stepped before the sword and inhaled deeply, then exhaled. Gripping the hilt with both hands the Great General of the North inhaled as his biceps bulged. Tensing his entire body, bending his knees and putting all of his strength into a titanic jerking heave the general struggled to lift the sword.
And he did…a little.
The courtyard was in uproar. "The old man is mocking us, if the Great General can't lift that thing then who can?"
A clear thin voice cut through the babble and silenced the field as the Crimson Emperor made a calm observation. "The boy can."
And so he did, as the black smith calmly explained, It had taken him half of his life to find enough of a rare metal that could only be worked under extreme, sustained heat with heavier than normal hammers over a continuous period of ten days. It had nearly broken his body to forge the sword and he had realized as his son had helped him forge the blade that he needed to train someone to wield this sword, not hope that such a person existed. There were certain groups of muscles that warriors depended on in battle. Their specific training emphasized those body parts. The balance of the blade he had forged was such that in placed strain in muscle groups that were underused by warriors. In order to properly lift and wield the sword the old man had directed his son's training for years to be able to wield a blade like the zanbatou.
Holding the sword with shocking ease in one hand the as of that moment nameless boy delivered a single lightning quick strike. The monster's body was cleaved in two and the blade sheared partway through the iron rock causing the thing to split the rest of the way down the middle with a loud crack. The court was silent as they took in the spider web of cracks covered the pavilion stones below the rock.
The legend of Yuusha and the Heavenly Goblin-Slaying sword began.
Present time.
And here it would end, in fire and blood, as the heroic Yuusha Lee Wu Fong plunged toward the evil youjutsusha Dashi and the demon that he was trying to resurrect The Bodies of the Four Great Generals lay piled atop mounds of monster corpses. Dashi cast gouts of flame at Yuusha but the spirits of the Great Generals joined together in a mirror-like shield and Dashi fell back, for the first time fear filled his lime-green eyes as the hero's blade plunged into his guts ripping out his spine. In his fading eyes a ghostly image of the First Crimson Emperor stood above him in victory just as this puppy of a Yusha did now. Then the world erupted in flame as the volcano they were standing on exploded.
The screen went dark and the ending credits began to roll.
"No way is that PG-13." Suzume breathed.
"Interesting special effects." Hideo muttered.
"I spotted some plot errors." Itachi smirked. "The scenes were pretty jumbled."
"Yeah," Suzume sighed. "All that skipping around was pretty confusing."
The muttering behind their heads increased as they heard the patrons around them comment on the film.
"Did you hear him scream, I heard the stuntman broke his legs and back when his crash bag failed, paralyzed for life." A man whispered softly. "That scene was so cool!"
"Who cares about that, I heard the actor insisted that they film atop a live volcano, that eruption wasn't part of the script." The first man's companion replied. "That explosion was classic."
"You mean it was real, must have been a lucky break for the film crew…" A woman who had been listening in said. "Getting such a good shot and all."
The three turned to the woman's companion who after hearing those comments felt the need to interject. "Lucky, hah! Tell that to the poor suckers who were filming on the crater when it went up. The only thing that they managed to recover was the film!"
Realizing the true scope of danger in Gai's mission, the three genin shared a look and vanished from the movie theater just as an usher passed beneath them. After sneaking out a side entrance the trio made their way back to their hotel room. They had gone on an excursion to the movie theater on the pretext of gathering information on their client and Gai's. What they had found wasn't promising. The territory they were traveling to was some what remote and there was a definite trend of accidents associated with Xiao Wu Long's films. All in all team Moriko wanted to be prepared for the start of their duties when the rest of the film crew arrived in Wakazi town the next day.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
That night somewhere in Tatami Country.
A fox cried out in the middle of a desolate field, its lonely dark eyes stared up at the moon. Hidden away in the same valley was an aesthetic's retreat that was currently being used to hold a secret meeting. Several men wearing black keikogi and loose trousers over wire mesh body armor surrounded the house, taking up guard positions both hidden and mobile. Two particularly muscular individuals guarded the doorway while the shadows of the roof shifted in an unusual manner, indicating the presence of another hidden guard.
Within an isolated room covered in seals twelve men wearing fox masks plotted murder. Their goal was the survival and supremacy of their clan. They had searched for years before finally finding the one they sought. The final descendant of their groups most infamous traitor. The one with the power to grant all of their dreams of glory, power, and vengeance was near, after so many years their prey was coming home.
"We have found the Invitator." A firm baritone voice intoned.
"He is coming to us, falling into our hands." Another elderly and more feminine voice cried out.
"We must not fail, failure will not be tolerated." A youthful man's voice commanded.
As one the fox masks turned toward a shadow next to the closed entrance. Eerie visages were made sinister by the dancing shadows of candle light. As one the discordant voices spoke together.
"Do you understand? Inuki!"
From deep within the shadows about the entrance a small light flares as the man named Inuki lights a cigarette. In the soft amber glow features such as deeply tanned skin covered in scars and old grey eyes with baggy pouches under them could be seen. It was all framed by a long, dark and untamed mane of hair, cascading down over his shoulders in tangled curls. More than one of the fox masked people fought down a shudder as Inuki's calculating gaze raked over their collected presence even though their identities were secret and they were supposed to be this man's superiors. Scarred fingers reached up to take the cigarette from his mouth as he expelled a cloud of smoke unperturbed by their attention. The red lips on a lined and generous mouth smirked.
"Hai."
After the meeting had finished and all of the masks had left Inuki strolled down a forest path toward a figure waiting for him. It was an extremely short, squat old man with a misshapen head, dressed in a child's kimono. One fuzzy grey eyebrow lifted and a dark brown eye examined the tall Inuki. Tutting like an old woman he scolded the man gently.
"Boss, you shouldn't be smoking, think of your health!"
Inuki looked down at his subordinate blandly and sighed. Pinching the glowing end with his fingers he place the death-stick into his pocket all the while under the old man's gaze.
"Ayumu you're such a busybody." Inuki muttered. Looking down at the old man, Ayumu, he said, "They've managed to locate Naoki-sama's and Kensei-sama's great-grandchild."
Ayumu's eyebrows ruffled in surprise as he turned to Inuki in query. "What do we do?"
"Nothing yet." Inuki answered. "He'll have a ninja escort if he's coming here. Send Michiru just to be safe, I want her to watch him when he arrives."
Ayumu nodded. "So the grandson of the traitor has returned."
Inuki began to walk deeper into the forested hillside as Ayumu followed. A grey mist began to obscure their forms as Inuki's voice wafted through the air.
"A fatal mistake…for him."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Team Moriko and Maito Gai formed up around the film crew gathering in Wakazi Town. The fire country village was the primary way point before undertaking the overland journey to Waterfall Country where they would meet with Xiao Wu Long's entourage and then proceed to film on location in Tatami Country. Director Mikuno, as Assistant Director Mizuno explained, wanted to use their travel time to film scenes for the next installment in the Yuusha films that didn't star the lead actor.
Their days from then on were spent guarding the film crew while traveling. They took shifts doing training, sleeping and on look-out duty during filming and on rest stops. It was during one of there rest stops while traveling to Waterfall Country that Moriko introduced team nine to the wonders of tree climbing. A wonder that was met with as much enthusiasm as Maito Gai's 'Burning Youth, Life or Death Calisthenics' training since Itachi and Hideo were already proficient with the technique.
Suzume and Nadeshiko, were only a little familiar with the mechanics of the training skill but they picked it up quickly. Unfazed Moriko instructed them to spend at least a portion of their time training with an overly enthusiastic Gai in a game of tree-top tag, punching and kicking allowed, a game where the first to touch the ground was the loser. In exchange Moriko spent time instructing Gai in training methods for combating genjutsu users.
And the eighteen day trip progressed across fire country with team nine and the film crew in tow trekking overland from time to time spending a day or two filming on location in various fields and forests in Fire country. It was during one such film day that team nine participated in their most recent 'Burning Youth, Life or Death Calisthenics' training exercise.
Much to his dismay, Maito Gai learned that for reasons pertaining to his 'flaming' youthful vigor, Murasaki-sensei had forbidden Itachi to wear Maito Gai's 'Fashinable Stylish, Aerodynamic Burning Battlesuit tm' since it risked over-burning and smothering his joyous youth prematurely.
While Gai lamented the extreme hipness that endangered the enflamed pride of youth, Itachi had been forced to keep a straight face as Hideo gagged at his explanation. Just as Gai was about to launch into another tirade, Itachi neatly interjected with the information that he hadn't been banned from training with Gai and that he looked forward to the challenge that wearing something other the incredible 'Fashinable Stylish, Aerodynamic Burning Battlesuit tm' would present.
Enthralled by the idea that wearing clothes with high wind resistance would actually be beneficial to his training Gai had promptly gone shopping in the closet of the film's clothes designer. Delighted that someone shared his sense of 'fashion' the other man promptly provided a large white floppy hat complete with a pink bowtie, a bouquet of flowers and a stuffed sparrow, wings out spread on top that Gai wore like a poncho.
On his torso he wore a loosely closed laced up frilly purple silk shirt which, much to Suzume's delight, exposed a firmly muscular chest with the beginnings of dense hair growth. The bottom of the shirt was firmly secured by a sash of red silk that snapped in the wind like a kite's tail and caused the loose shirt to inflate in high wind. The coup de grace was the flowing green skirt under which was an assortment of under skirts and petticoats and hoses. As much as he liked a challenge, the clothing designer had to be disappointed when Gai refused the red high heels due to the possibility of injury.
Gai did promise to go for a drink with the nice and helpful man when he was of age.
Even the usually unflappable Moriko and Itachi were stunned. Suzume just stared at Gai's chest and idly asked Hideo if Gai was wearing a 'traditional' kilt. Hideo thought it was an abomination. He had never so deeply wanted to put out his eyes that saw things in entirely too much detail and for the first time deeply resented the fact that Itachi didn't possess the Sharingan so that the smartass wouldn't be able to forget the sight that was before them.
Then Gai tried to perform Konoha Senpuu…
Moriko was a shade too late to cover their eyes.
Fortunately for them, Gai wore underwear….
Unfortunately that was all he wore.
Itachi and Hideo's thoughts were somewhere along the lines of this.
"I didn't see anything. I didn't see anything. I didn't see anything. I didn't see anything."
While Moriko-sensei, Suzume and a certain clothes designer's thoughts were more like this.
"I saw eeeeeverything!"
In a rare moment of solidarity Hideo and Itachi resolved to burn the outfit the first chance that they got and never speak of the 'incident that didn't happen' again. From that day onward Hideo refused to train with Gai, but Suzume and Itachi bravely soldiered on. Weird or not, they both noticed that they were little by little getting stronger.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Itachi was having visions again. Not as clear as the last set he had endured in the forest, nor as vague as the hints and flashes of sudden insight that he had endured since birth, but he was having visions. They were all the same, in the dream Itachi was in the body of an older man, his eyes were faintly burning as he closely watched the movements of another man. This had not been the first time that they had fought he sensed. They moved in unison as their bodies had become deeply in tune with the pulse of the battlefield.
The field that there were fighting in was filled with a staggering amount of dead bodies. The scent of blood filled the air and made his eyes water. In the real world, Itachi's closed eyes shed tears as he slept quietly. His dream self blinked at the wetness and the fight started.
His opponent pounced in a blur of motion. Itachi knew without understanding that he should have seen the foreshadowing of this attack. His eyes should have observed the play of chakra through tensing muscles. The increasing pulse rate seen by the shifting of the skin at temple and jugular should have been evident. The tensing of the arms, the balancing movement of the feet; and a thousand other tells were absent.
He should have seen the foreshadowing, he knew without understanding how that it was only his extensive combat experience that spared him an instant death. He knew that his opponent was good, that the only thing that had allowed him to avoid the scrabbling, grasping fingers that had tried to rip open his carotid artery was the fact that his enemy did not have the same eyes as he. His enemy erased many of his tells and his fighting style was difficult to predict but there were things that 'normal' eyes could not see that his Sharingan did.
It was small, an involuntary twitch there, stifled but for the faint sparking of lightening nature chakra in the nerves. The buildup of energy that was sudden enough to delay his sharingan's predictive abilities until the interval between fore-action and action was nearly non-existent. He was going to lose this fight he knew without understanding, but the lessons learned here would not die with him, this the nameless Uchiha did not know, but Itachi understood, even as he reeled backward, bleeding from an almost fatal wound.
As he lay on the ground, staring at the wide blue sky he could faintly hear his opponent saying something, complimenting him even though he wasn't dead yet. "Idiot, every second wasted was a second lost." The man didn't even flinch when a high powered steel arrow guided by the Sharingan of one of his brothers sank into the back of his head and exploded out the other side. "So skilled, so young." He thought ruefully as he began to blackout, the back of his neck was wet with what he assumed was blood.
Dark eyes opened in the moonlight, not for a moment betraying the unease felt within. He remembered the dream recalled with disgust the field filled with corpses and the stench of burnt flesh. It drew him back to the early years of his life during the Third Secret World War. He remembered the price paid for in blood by so many of his aunts and uncles, and if he still felt grief what of those who had been truly orphaned by that war?
"He called his fighting system Ryuuchouyou Tekken-fuu. I must learn it, anything it takes"
Itachi closed his eyes and dreamed and dreamed again of fields of slaughter and the man that nearly killed him.
"No matter the cost, I must learn."
And so as he slept, Itachi's mind was filled with the sound of battle.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
AN: Well to answer a review off the bat, no Itachi's sense of smell is nowhere as good as Suzume's which is part of the reason that he's currently even with her in terms of using this skill to track people. Itachi is brilliant, his senses were enhanced by the Kyuubi especially his sight and I promise that you'll see some interesting things when he awakens his sharingan, to qoute Kakashi "be quiet, you'll wet yourself when you see it."
Suzume's problem is that she smells waaay too much. What's the point of having superior senses if you can't control them. Sure it must be cool to be able to hear a fly take a leak, but do you really want to? The overall effect left Suzume's instructors thinking that she was a total ditz but when she learns control she'll be awesome. I hope you don't mind having a movie inserted into the middle of the story, the scene kind of got away from me a little. Youjutsusha means wizard or sorceror/sorceress