Chapter 4
"I just don't understand it. Why keep it from me for so long?" Dai sighed as he picked up his cup of noodles and swirled his chopsticks around in it.
"Mayhaps they thought it would be better for you to live your own life instead of living in their shadows. And, after all, your father had many enemies. You said that Kakashi mentioned you were to be told when you made jounin? Well, once you were a jounin, you'd be strong enough to defend yourself against most of those that would try and take their revenge on the son of the man that defeated them twenty years ago." Itachi said quietly.
"Really, do you think that's why?" Dai asked as he looked up at the tall raven haired man that had hunted him for so long.
"Yes. I was there when you were young. I saw how the Hokage treated you. You were like a grandson to him. If the council would have let him, he would have adopted you in a heartbeat." Itachi said a solemn look on his face. Despite his hatred of Konoha and many in it, the Third Hokage always had his respect.
"He's right, Naruto. Sensei always tried to take care of you, but the old crones on the council hated you and tried everything in their power to make your life as bad as possible." Jiraiya said from the open window.
"And how long have you been there, ero-sennin?" Dai asked calmly, slurping his noodles before he continued. "And don't call me Naruto, it's Dai."
"You will always be Naruto to me, boy. It's what your parents named you and I loved your father like my own."
"Wow, that's really sappy for you. Have you had a little too much sake?" Dai asked an amused quirk on his lips.
"No, but it's true none the less. Remember it I won't be saying anything like this again." Jiraiya said before turning a stern look at Itachi.
"And what are you doing here, Uchiha?"
"Conversing."
"Conversing? That's all you have to say?"
"Hn."
"See, it's not just Sasuke, it's both of them." Dai put in with a grin.
"Naru… Dai, he hunted you for a long time. Why is he here?" Jiraiya asked in a deadly voice, not taking his eyes off the brunet.
"He saved me." Dai said simply.
"Saved you? What do you mean saved you?"
"As in, when the mob almost killed me, he saved me, took me to his house and nursed me back to health. Then he helped me get set up here so I could case one of my dreams." Dai stated a calm look on his face as if he wasn't talking about almost being killed.
"I thought it was him when I heard about what happened, but what I don't understand, is why?"
"That is none of your concern." Itachi stated as he stood up.
"I think it is."
"No, it isn't. So you go back and tell Baa-chan that I'm alright and I will write her when I get the chance." Dai growled as he, too, stood.
"I'm only trying to look after you." Jiraiya said quietly.
"I don't need you to look after me. You weren't there when I was a kid and you weren't there when I was constantly attacked while I was still in the academy. Yeah, they backed off after I graduated, but they never really stopped." Dai said and Jiraiya felt his guilt triple in a heartbeat.
"I couldn't be there. I to many things to do to help us recover from the Kyuubi attack." He said hoarsely.
"The many take president over the few." Itachi said and Dai nodded. "But that doesn't make it better that I wasn't there for you."
"Why would you be there? You didn't know me. I mean, I know that you were the fourth's sensei, but why should you have to look after me?"
"I…" Jiraiya couldn't continue as he looked down at his hands.
"It was the fourth's last request that he look after you." Itachi said calmly into the silence, causing both gazes to snap to him.
"How…" Jiraiya started to say in shock, only to be interrupted by Dai, who shouted, "You mean he was supposed to protect me all this time?!"
"Yes."
"Naruto…I…" Jiraiya started and stopped a few times before he fell silent for a minute before he looked back up at the blonde that looked so much like his student.
"Your father requested that I take care of you because he knew that a lot of people wouldn't see the sacrifices that you would make to be the kyuubi's jailer and would blame you. He wanted you to grow up safe and protected and loved, but I had to choose between following his last wish and making sure that Konoha would survive until you became a shinobi. I had to choose the well being of all the people that made your life a living hell over the son of the man I saw as my child because if I didn't then we would have been over run with enemies and we might have all been killed anyway. I had to choose Konoha over you." Jiraiya said quietly then disappeared out the window.
"I trust you to do what I couldn't and keep him safe, Itachi." They heard faintly and then it was just the two of them sitting at the table in silence.
"Naruto…" Itachi said softly only to be interrupted as Dai shoved his chair back.
"I'm sorry; I need a little space right now." Dai threw his half full ramen cup in the garbage on his way out of the room, leaving soft charcoal eyes to watch him as he disappeared out of the room.
OOOOOO
Dai paused in his room to grab a wife beater and then slipped out the front door, stuffing his feet into his boots on the way.
He wandered for a few hours until the sun began to set. Unaware of where he was headed, his feet took him towards a bar that he frequently went to when he was troubled. It was in a seedy part of town, thieves and beggars everywhere, but it didn't bother him. He had never been attacked here and the people knew to leave him alone. Even in sweats and a wife beater, he looked intimidating.
Entering the bar, he sat at a stool in a shadowy corner of the bar and nodded to the bartender. "What can a get you sweetheart?" the woman said as she approached, wiping her hands on a towel.
"A bottle of Jack." He growled and she nodded, her long brown hair flicking over her shoulder to trail to her waist as she turned to grab a new bottle for him. Slim and athletic, she turned many head with her over developed chest and her warm brown eyes outlined in thick black eyeliner. She had two purple marks on her cheeks that seemed to accent her full mouth. But most knew better than to try anything as she was fully capable of taking care of anyone who caused trouble in her bar as a retired shinobi.
"Shall I put it on your tab?" she asked as she placed the bottle and a clean glass in front of him.
"Sure. I forgot to bring my wallet anyway." He muttered as he grabbed the bottle and, ignoring the glass, took a long swing directly from it.
"That bad a day?" she asked as she wiped the bar with a clean rag.
"Well, I just got out of jail this afternoon after being put in for being a shinobi that left my village to take a break from that world. I mean I have the hokage's permission, and if I was a missing-nin, I wouldn't go telling people I was." He groused, taking another gulp.
"Oh course you wouldn't, honey. Anyone in heir right mind would know that." She said, narrowing her eyes.
"Yeah, well, tell that to Tenchu, my manager. We were discussing possible band mates and one of them has a problem with shinobi so I told him as a reason I didn't think she would work out. He seemed fine with it, but when I went to meet them at a club, he had one of the guys drug me. I woke up in an interrogation room chained to the wall with chakra suppressors on. I have to many bad experiences with chakra suppressors." He growled and chugged half the bottle.
"Slow down their honey. I know that you have a high tolerance, but if you drink it to fast, it will catch up with you pretty damn fast." She cautioned.
"I could guzzle three of these in five minutes and have it barely touch me."
"That's impossible." She said flatly.
"Not for me. Do you know how hard it is for me to get drunk? It's almost impossible." He said just as flatly.
"Must really suck when you need to get drunk to forget." She murmured.
"You have no idea."
"So what else happened? I've know you for a few years now and it takes a lot to get you like this. In fact, I've never seen you like this." She said, laying her rag down and staring him directly in the eyes.
"You've know me since Itachi introduced us." He murmured quietly, almost to low to hear.
"Yes, and I've know Itachi his entire life. I had an Uchiha as a teammate, so I was around there a lot as a genin. He was so cute as a child. Itachi, not my teammate." She said with a sigh as she remembered those times long past.
"If it wasn't for you two, I would have gone insane long ago." He whispered.
"Sweetie, you are a survivor. No matter what, you will find a way to just be yourself and surpass what ever brings you down." She said gently as he placed a hand over his clenched fist.
Nodding, he took another drink from the bottle before taking the glass that still sat at his elbow and filled it with some of the liquor.
"So what else happened?" she asked. It was starting to get a little busy, so she motioned for a man that had been wiping tables down to take over at the bar and she joined Dai at the bar, bringing a bottle of Irish cream with her.
"It was Kakashi-sensei that came to ID me. He even had Sasuke and Sakura with him. It was a huge shock for all of us as I was practicing a new song I wrote in there. You should have seen their aces when the realized it was me. Sakura was all 'Your voice is wonderful!! I love that song, it makes me tingle. Would you like to get some lunch when you get out?' the moment she realized who I was, it was, 'Oh my god, I asked you out!' I thought she was about to keel over."
"That bitch. She's the one you used to ask out, isn't it?" she asked darkly and he nodded briefly.
"But that was before I realized that I like guys a whole lot more that I like girls."
"Did she even realize that you didn't even react to that like you would have back then?" she asked curiously.
"Nope." He said and chuckled. "She is such a fan girl."
"That she is. Now, I know that's not all of it, so keep going." She ordered, than poured herself a shot of the Irish cream.
"Well, than Tenchu showed up and that didn't go to well. Sasuke called me by my real name and got him curious about what my last name was because he said my first sounded familiar. Sakura, the bitch just flat out told him what my family name was. I could have happily gutted her at that point." He growled and drained his glass in one gulp.
"I can't believe that she's a shinobi. She should never have been passed. She has no common sense!" she exclaimed irritated.
"Yeah, well, that led me to finding some stuff out about my past. Turns out, he knew my mother. She was a singer for a while before moving to the village and getting married. It was believed that she and I, whom she was pregnant with at the time, were killed when the kyuubi destroyed the hospital we were in. Instead," and here his voice grew bitter. "she died and my father sealed the damn fox in me."
Silently, she wrapped him in a hug. After a few moments, he pulled away; still uncomfortable about being touched by anyone other than Itachi, though she was the only one beside him that he would let try.
"Turns out that Kakashi-sensei knew all along and didn't say anything. Apparently the third wanted to wait until I was a jounin before he informed me about my family or tenet. But I've known about it since before I became a genin. Why couldn't he trust me to keep my parentage a secret too? And on top of that, Ero-sennin apparently was supposed to be taking care of me as a last request from dear old dad, but he chose to keep his network up and running instead. The many over the few." He said and turned to face her. "I know he did the right thing, but on top of the whole finding out about everything else, I just feel betrayed."
"Oh course you do, honey. If you didn't, you would be a saint." She said strongly and offered him some of her drink. "Don't worry; I'll make sure you forget about this for tonight."
OOOOOO
"I thought I should bring him home to sleep it off." She whispered as she supported a half unconscious Dai through his apartment, Itachi leading the way.
"Thank you. He needed some time to himself to think about things before he could talk to anyone. I'm glad it was you that he went to." He said just as quietly. Entering the bedroom, they removed his sweats and boots and laid him on the bed, pulling the light blanket over him before departing to the living room.
Settling on the couch with some tea, they were silent as each thought over what had happened that day.
"So what is going to happen now?" she asked quietly.
"He will work though his feelings and chase his dream of being a singer. And one day, he will return there to confront his past. He is stronger now that he knows of his past, but he will need all the support that he can receive at this point."
Nodding, she sipped her tea, before broaching something that had been tickling the back of her mind. "Kakashi-baka was his sensei and your little brother was his teammate, correct?"
He nodded silently.
"He was the Obito of his team, wasn't he?" she asked somberly.
"Yes he was. He apparently was exactly like him, even down to the goggles he used to wear before he made genin."
"I just hope that he ends better than Obito did." She whispered, a tear trailing down her cheek at the old memories that resurfaced after years of being buried.
"We will make sure he will, Rin." He said quietly.
OOOOOO
Groaning, Dai woke the next morning, gripping his head as pain ripped through it. "What the hell did I drink last night?" he muttered, wincing as the pain doubled.
"Apparently, half the stock at the bar." A smooth voice said from the doorway.
"Wha…?"
"Rin brought you home at closing time last night."
"Ah…" looking over at the doorway, he whispered, "You're still here."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I will stay another day, then return." Itachi said flatly than turned around and left the room. Smiling, Dai laid back at stared at the ceiling before getting up and staggered towards the shower.
OOOOOO
"It's nice that you're going to stay, but what about the others finding out?" he asked as he entered the living room, rubbing a towel through his hair to dry it from his shower. Draping it around his neck, he settled on the couch next to him and leaned against his side.
Wrapping an arm around him, Itachi smiled briefly as he said, "I am needed more here than anything."
"Thanks." Dai said softly before grabbing some paper and a pen and beginning to write down the new songs he had come up with while in jail.
An hour later, he laid down the last piece of paper and stretched as Itachi looked up from the book he had been reading.
"Finished?"
"Yup, though I some ideas for new songs." Dai said happily
"Anything concrete?"
"Not yet, just part of the tune and a vague idea for the words."
"How many songs is that now?"
"About twelve." Dai said with a small, proud smile.
"Enough for an album." Itachi stated and Dai nodded.
"Now all I have to do is go back to the asshole and finalize the band. I don't want that dick who drugged me in my band. He took way to much enjoyment from what I was going through."
"Understandable."
"Yeah, he rubbed me wrong from the moment met him, too." Dai said with a frown.
"Want me to kill him?"
"Itachi, we talked about this. You don't have to kill everyone that does me wrong."
"Hn."
"Don't give me that. Just because I remind you of your past, doesn't mean you have to react the same way you did back then."
Itachi ignored him and turned back to his book, making Dai growl in annoyance.
"Itachi…"
"Dai, made you should go take care of this band business now." Itachi interrupted.
"Fine, whatever." Dai snarled, covering his hurt behind a mask of anger. He knew that when he got back, Itachi would be gone, despite his promise to stay longer.
After Itachi had saved him, he had stayed at his house, resting and recovering from what had happened. He had never managed, though, to get the older man to talk about what had happened to him in his childhood. Itachi would go out of his way to make sure that nothing bothered or hurt him, but would never admit why, though Naruto already knew, even without conformation.
Whenever he would bring up the past, Itachi would close up tighter than anything, and then would disappear. It had happened many times over the years, and each time it hurt him.
Stalking from the room, he went to his bed room and yanked on a pair of black wide leg jeans, a black hoodie and black leather fingerless gloves. Without bothering to say anything to the silent man on the couch, he stomped into his boats and left, slamming the door behind him. He stood there for a moment before taking to the roofs and making his way to the production company where he knew Tenchu would be working for at least a few more hours.
He didn't see the pair of red sharingan eyes watching him though the window, nor did he see the single tear run down the blank face before disappearing back behind the curtain.
OOOOOO
Itachi struggled to suppress his feelings as he made his way to the bedroom to retrieve his clothes, changing hastily into the loose back pants that he taped down, along with a long sleeved fishnet shirt with a black wraparound tunic. He stowed his weapons in their accustomed places before swirling into his cloak.
Looking around the bedroom, he spotted a high-necked shirt with the Uchiha symbol on the back sticking messily out of a drawer of shirts that Dai had forgotten to close before he left. Striding over he pulled it out and looked at it. It was one of his few shirts with his clan symbol on it that he never took out of their place in his storage drawer at his house to find one here was a surprise. Dai must have taken it when he came to live at the Fire Lord's capital to pursue his dream of singing.
The fact that he had managed to do it without him knowing it was a surprise.
As he held it in his fist, something fluttered to the ground at his feet. Stooping, he picked up a photo and flipped it over, his eyes widening. It was him, during one of his rare moments of peace. He was in his herb garden, which was extensive, with dirt smeared on his cheek as he pulled weeds from around his tea plant.
'I never even knew he took this.' He thought as he gazed at the pick for a moment longer before folding it back into the shirt and placing it back in the drawer and closing it.
Leaving the room, he went to the living room and picked up the sheets of music, looking at them for a moment before neatly placing them in a stack and scrawling a quick note to the blonde.
He took the note with him as he headed for the kitchen to straighten up in there. Placing it on the table he washed the few dishes in the sink, desperately trying not to think and failing utterly.
'Why can't I open p to him, like he's opened up to me?' he thought in despair as he scrubbed a bowl. 'I haven't even told him we are alike in so many things, though he seems to have figured it out almost since the beginning,'
In fact, he had never told anyone what had happened to him, or why had had slaughtered the entire clan, though a few knew, Rin being one of them. She had stood by him ever since he was a child and she had come over to drag the perpetually late Obito to a team meeting.
'I need to tell him what happened and why I did what I did. Than maybe he would understand.' He thought bleakly as he dried his hands on a towel. Looking around at the neat kitchen, he sighed once before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.
Unnoticed a single leaf drifted down and landed on the note next to the singe word. "Sorry."
OOOOOO
Across town at the same time, Dai walked into the plush office of Tenchu and stated coldly, "We need to discuss some things."
Well, I surprised myself. I wrote this in less than a day. In fact, I did it in less than four hours. My fiancée was bitching about me using his computer, but he fell asleep before the kids, so I swiped it and started typing and this is what turned out. I keep saying that I probably won't update until after I go home in a week, but I keep knocking off a new chapter pretty damn fast. Faster than usual.
So here it is. Chapter four is complete and I already have the outline for the fifth in my mind. It's kind of filler, but I wanted to introduce Rin to the story and she just seemed to fit. I hope you liked this and maybe I'll get another chapter out in a couple days again!
Ja ne, Shinigami-chan