Chapter 2: Masks and Identity
Kakashi gently stroke Naruto as she slept on the guest bed Mikoto has prepared for her. "We will need to disguise her further," he says quietly, eyes not quite leaving the sight of his sensei's daughter.
Mikoto looked on despondingly, her heart sinking at how much danger Naruto is still in, despite being under the protection of the Uchihas.
"We will have to dye her hair," Fugaku input. "Her hair would be too revealing. I would suggest getting her contacts too, but she's too young and it might not be the best."
Mikoto glanced at the head of blond hair, hesitant because of nostalgia. But she understood the dangers - they all did. "A neutral colour like brown or black would be good," she suggested.
Fugaku frowned. "I was thinking of red to help her camouflage with the Uzumakis."
"I don't think she should go around with the Uzumaki name," Kakashi interjected. "It was a lie, but I think that should be something she keeps to herself. Her relation to the Uzumaki isn't exactly a secret."
"What do you suggest then?" Mikoto asked.
"Brown would be a more common colour in the Elemental Nations, but black would help her blend in a little more with the Uchiha," he thought out loud.
"Brown then," Fugaku decided.
"What about her facial scars?" Mikoto asked, choking slightly on her words.
There was silence as the adults pondered over it, a tinge of sorrow as they thought of how she would be disfigured for the rest of her life. A shift from the bed brought all eyes to Naruto as she blinked awake, probably from the adults talking over her. She glanced nervously from one adult to the other. "Can I wear a mask like Kaka-nii?" she asked hesitantly.
Fugaku and Mikoto shared a surprised look, while Kakashi continue to stroke Naruto's hair fondly. "Is that what you want?" he asked.
The young girl nodded in response.
"Alright then, brown hair and a mask."
...
"Teuchi-san, could you help me prepare a snack? A sandwich or something similar will do," Itachi requested as he entered the Manor kitchen. Like many parts of the Manor, the kitchen is most frequented by the maids and staff, and it is a rare occasion for members of the Uchiha family to make a special trip there. Unless of course, you're Uchiha Mikoto, who made it her personal mission to take charge of the household as personally as she could as the lady of the house.
To Itachi's surprise, his request was met with a pair of bright blue eyes, rendering him mute for a moment as their eyes locked. Before he could say anything though, he was interrupted with a reply from the Head Cook's daughter, drawing his attention away from the blue eyed mystery. "Otou-san is taking a break at the moment," Ayame said cheerily. "If you don't mind, I could make you some snacks instead."
"Yes, please," he replied, his gaze landing distractedly on the masked girl as Ayame scuttled away to make his snack. The girl caught his eye again, but ducked away quickly as she resumed her kitchen chores, and Itachi made the decision then to talk to the girl who had been on the edge of his thoughts for the past few weeks.
"I don't see you around the Manor much, are you new here?" he asked curiously. The Manor hires plenty of maids, but few stay for long. Mostly because either Itachi or Sasuke will fire them in a fit of annoyance, among other reasons.
"I'm not," she politely replies. "I usually work in the kitchen or the back tasks. Perhaps that is why you do not see me often."
"I see…" he trailed off. "What's your name?"
The maid blinked, and Itachi could tell that she was surprised by the question even as she isn't looking at him. "You may called me Natsumi, Itachi-sama."
"Natsumi," Itachi repeated, pleased that he finally got a name to match the girl that he had been thinking of. They were quiet for a moment as Itachi observed Natsumi at her task. "You seem different from the other maids in the Manor," he blurted out eventually, accidentally voicing his thoughts out loud.
There was a soft chuckle and Natsumi turned to him with her eyes crinkled in smile. For someone whose face is half covered, Itachi thought that she was very expressive, and it made him all the more curious why she would hide half her face under a scarf. "You mean the fan girls?" she asked knowingly.
"Here's your sandwich, Itachi-sama!" Ayame announced, bringing the plate of sandwich in front of him. For a moment Itachi was confused as he had been so comfortable conversing with Natsumi, but the confusion was gone in a moment and he accepted the plate from Ayame. "Thank you, Ayame-san, Natsumi-san." He nodded at the other kitchen helper and left the kitchen with his requested snack.
Behind him, Natsumi looked on amusedly as Ayame craned her neck out of the kitchen until Itachi could no longer be seen, before she turned back and rounded on the younger girl. "What did Itachi-sama talk to you about, Natsu-chan?" she asked excitedly.
"Nothing much," she shrugged. "Just asked me for my name."
"He asked for your name?" Ayame half squealed, her excitement bursting from inside her. "He never asks the maids for their name!"
"Maybe he just wanted to be polite since we are talking?" Natsumi answered, not really understanding why the older girl was so excited that Itachi had asked for her name.
"Are you kidding me? Itachi-sama has a reputation around here for ignoring most of the maids and here he is asking for your name and you act like it's no big deal. So many maids would kill to be in your position," Ayame gushed.
"And I would never understand why all the maids seem to find him so attractive that they would lose their mind over him," Natsumi deadpanned.
Ayame shook her head as she threw a exasperated fond look to the younger girl. "I'm not sure to be happy or disappointed that you have not grown up to appreciate the fine details of the male species, Natsu-chan. And you practically grew up in the Uchiha Manor with me."
Natsumi ignored her sister figure, contently attending to her kitchen task.
"One day, you'll understand and then we can talk all about boys," Ayame promised determinedly.
...
Tenzou walked nervously into the Konoha Main Police Station, fidgeting slightly as his eyes glanced from side to side. "Ah, excuse me," he said to the reception. "My name is Tenzou, and I'm looking for a Hatake Kakashi."
The receptionist looked down at her list. "Kimura Tenzou?" she asked, receiving a nod in response. "Hatake-san will be down in a moment. Please take a seat while he arrives."
Tenzou waited patiently as he waited for Hatake Kakashi to appear. He had been surprised that his admission into the police force had been so quick, but there was little delay once he had spoken to Kakashi. He smirked internally at his progress. Things are moving slowly, but he is sure that the time will come for them to make their move at last. All he needs is patience.
Story notes:
(1) Minor updates to the previous chapter if you read it before this chapter is posted. This is to account for some new details to Naruto's appearance, specifically that she is masked. I needed her to cover up her facial scars and I thought that makeup or some sort of concealer seemed a little much for a child to manage.
(2) Natsumi is the alias that Naruto uses since she started living in the Uchiha Manor. Depending on the perspective, Naruto and Natsumi will be used interchangeably. Natsu means summer. Mi can mean many things, but I'm thinking it to mean sea, so it's some sort of reference to her heritage (blond hair/summer, sea/Uzushio).
(3) I'm evidently playing with the many names of Tenzou. There is no known surname for Tenzou, so I took Kimura. Ki means tree, wood, while mura means town, village.
A/N:
I'm still kinda stuck on this, but I've written out some more specific scenes, so it's more a problem of stringing everything together. At the moment, I fear that the story will be disjointed because I don't want to do day by day progressions - that will take way too long, and require me to generate too much content to embellish the story. The focus of the story will be on the mystery behind Naruto's background and the political plot, of which Itachi will gradually be a part of. And then the romance. Still slow going at this stage, because I still need to introduce a lot of base information to readers. Let me know if you have any questions or have some aspect that you want to see in the story.