Itachi: Shadows

Due to his dressing to blend in with the rest of the former ROOT shinobi, Itachi found himself being roped into the generic fetching, carrying and mindless guarding inherent to all state wedding ceremonies. Ironically, the ex-Konoha ninja was assigned to the Kage no Kuni party as a general contact and helper. He had an uneasy feeling that both Yamikage and Shadow daimyo knew exactly who he was and didn't care, which would explain nicely where Sempai-chan's dubious sense on humour came from.

Other than that mild background disquiet the day before the wedding ceremony was relatively pleasant and peaceful. Itachi's Yuurei partner –who was the most active Nara the Uchiha had ever met– was happy to run errands and keep an eye on the samurai half of the delegation so the incognito nukenin was left to supervise the Twilight shinobi. Well, the active shinobi; the daimyo, yamikage and well-dressed couple were technically all ninja as well but since they were guests of honour they weren't allowed time to train and were followed around by overly-obsessive samurai guards.

Itachi's charges were all identically dressed in dark grey with identical snarling lion-dog masks, deep red and gold leaf on smooth porcelain with more seals hidden amongst the paintwork than the Uchiha had ever seen in one place before. The five nins were however distinguishable from one-another by their weapons and the subtle decorations on their uniforms as well as their varying heights and builds. Itachi suspected they also had different hair, but all five wore red and gold rag wigs like lions' manes attached to their masks, effectively hiding said hair. Seeing them all together helped the nukenin understand why Sempai-chan had insisted on making the Yuurei all dress alike: a group of almost-identical shinobi was both intimidating and confusing, which granted said shinobi an automatic advantage over their foes.

The five were also fairly friendly for supposed xenophobe isolationists. Very friendly indeed, considering they were elite bodyguards in unknown territory a long way from reinforcements. They all introduced themselves by first name and specialisation: Shinji, the medic; Namazu, the sensor; Rokkugi, the heavy hitter; Aiiro, the long range specialist and Ginme, the only woman in the group, who ambiguously described her role as being 'support'. Itachi spent the entire morning sparring with them, weapons and taijutsu only. Ginme, who was apparently the oldest present, made a point of reminding the others that using kekkai genkai would be cheating, which suggested that most if not all of them had bloodlines of one kind or another.

Further quiet attention to casual banter revealed that Shinji and Rokkugi were second cousins, that Namazu and Aiiro worked together like they'd been doing it for years and that part of Shinji's role in combat was to watch Ginme's back. All five were very good, each used a totally different weapon and their ages ranged from Rokkugi, the youngest at barely fifteen, to Ginme, who was twenty-six and a mother of three children. That she was nonetheless an ANBU-quality kunoichi and had been sent out on an important and highly visible bodyguarding mission indicated how exceptionally capable she had to be to have been selected in spite of her other responsibilities.

Itachi found the team dynamic fascinating. Namazu, the sensor, was the leader with Aiiro as his second. Ginme's entire purpose seemed to be to counterbalance the energetic and volatile Rokkugi –who despite being by far the most powerful shinobi of the group was lowest in the hierarchy– while Shinji was slightly outside the pecking order due to his status as team medic, which gave him absolute authority over the injured. The Uchiha successfully determined that the inin was a new addition to the team while the other two pairs had considerable prior experience of working together. He also discovered –when they stopped for lunch and trailed back to the Hatake mansion– that Shinji was Sempai-chan's younger brother and that yesterday had been the first time the siblings had ever seen each-other face-to-face. Itachi couldn't imagine what it would have been like to have grown up without ever being allowed to even see one's baby brother.

Over lunch the Kurai ninja kept up a lively dialogue with the shinobi from Kumo and Shou on weaponry, which naturally led to a few friendly challenges being made and a general agreement to spar together as soon as the meal was over. Itachi agreed to referee, repeated Ginme's initial conditions of taijutsu and weapons only and leapt out of the way as Namazu swung his bō staff at Zabuza with cheerful abandon. In a strictly physical fight the two were well-matched, their weapons' extended reach largely cancelling each-other out. After twenty minutes of exceptional footwork and surprisingly varied form Itachi declared the spar a draw. The two nins shook hands before departing the field so Darui and Aiiro could have their match.

That fight was much more exciting as the Twilight shinobi's favoured weapon was a kusarigama, which he wielded to great effect against the Cloud jounin's sword. After that match was a fast-paced taijutsu battle between Motoi of Kumo and Rokkugi, the latter of whom cheerfully admitted that he was primarily a ninjutsu type. The wickedly sharp-clawed gauntlets the younger shinobi wore however still gave his opponent plenty to worry about until Motoi finally managed to pin the manic teen in a choke hold and held a kunai to his ribs. Rokkugi admitted defeat with aplomb, informed the older shinobi that in a real battle he would have won in the first fifteen seconds then returned to sit with his comrades.

Next up were Kayuga Kimmimaro and Shinji.

"Ninja-san, might it be permissible to use kekkai genkai in our fight?" the Kayuga asked Itachi politely. "I generally use my bones in battle."

Itachi looked across at Shinji, who shrugged.

"Kayuga-san," the twilight-nin said frankly, "If I match my kekkai genkai against yours you will lose. My bloodline is specifically adapted to healing and bones are my specialty; you would be better off borrowing a blade to use against my knives that challenging me in an area where I hold the advantage."

Kimmimaro looked affronted. "Prove it, shade-walker."

Shinji shrugged, put his slender blades away and settled into an unusually open taijutsu stance. The Kayuga drew two long white bones from his upper arms and charged.

The fight was over so quickly that Itachi had to go over it again in his mind to work out exactly what had happened: Shinji's hands had glowed soft green and he had brushed his fingers along each bone blade as Kimmimaro lunged then hit the Kayuga's sternum with a firm palm strike. A volley of cracking noises had bounced around the clearing as the bone blades had dissolved into powder and the white-haired ninja had collapsed silently into his opponent's arms. The Kurai shinobi had then very carefully laid the Kayuga out on the grass and held his hands out over the unconscious teen's crumpled torso, green chakra radiating from his fingers.

"What the hell did you do to him, kid?" Zabuza asked. The medic shrugged sheepishly, never looking up from his patient:

"I shattered his ribcage. Like I said, bones are my specialty, no matter whether I'm breaking or mending them. He'll be as good as new by tomorrow, I promise."

That casual display of power and control ensured that nobody else even considered asking to use more than strictly physical abilities in the sparring matches. It was only considerably later, after all the ninja present other than Kimmimaro had fought at least three times each, that the Kayuga asked stiffly if Shinji was the only Kurai ninja present to have a bloodline.

"Actually we all do," Namazu said frankly. "All five of us come from one or another of Shadow country's fifteen founding clans; well thirteen really since two have since merged to form the ruling Tatsuteiou clan and one is so diffuse that ninety-five percent of all people in our country could theoretically claim to belong to it."

"I am a Junjosei," Shinji offered. "We are all medics and assassins since our chakra can either heal or poison according to our will."

"I am Sankasen; our kekkai genkai is called denki kankaku or electric perception. We are sensors able to perceive the natural bioelectricity of our surroundings," Namazu went on. "Rokkugi is a Genseisen, bearer of the kotai no maroboshi which is the bloodline that made the Akumugami so feared. Those gifted or cursed with that kekkai genkai can create illusions able to physically affect reality."

Zabuza whistled softly. "Serious shit."

"Indeed," Ginme agreed. "I am Ashikaga; we are a hijutsu clan rather than true bloodline bearers, though there is a genetic component. Our techniques enable us to share our chakra with our comrades so they can fight longer and harder than would otherwise be safe for them to do so."

That sounded like a very useful skill; jutsu like that could win a battle Itachi knew. If Ginme worked in tandem with Rokkugi –which seemed to be what was usually done– the boy could easily obliterate large groups of enemy ninja without the risk of exhausting himself.

"I on the other hand am a Tsubame," Aiiro said conversationally. "Our kekkai genkai enables us to fly on the winds we manipulate."

"You can fly?" Motoi repeated, astounded. "Really fly?"

Aiiro laughed, leapt to his feet and threw himself into the air, briefly spiralling up skywards in the centre of the clearing before dropping gracefully back to the ground.

"Wow," Darui said, razing a lazy eyebrow. "That's pretty out there."

"Do any of you have bloodlines other than Kayuga-san?" Namazu asked curiously.

"I am capable of using black lightning, but that is a hijutsu rather than a bloodline," Darui volunteered after a short pause. It wasn't like he was revealing a secret; Itachi had seen the Cloud jounin's bingo book profile.

"I've got nothing but my apprentice can create ice," Zabuza offered.

Motoi shrugged. "My family has handed down the owl contract for generations but we have no bloodline to speak of."

"Owls?" Rokkugi perked up, coming out of his daydream. "My clan has shrews."

"There is a shrew summoning contract?" Itachi heard himself asking.

"Aa. It's been in the clan since forever and we're all on it," Rokkugi said. "All of the thirteen ninja clans have a summoning contract they are aligned with, though individuals can and do sign other contracts as well. Aiiro's clan have the swallow contract."

"My clan has badgers," Ginme added.

"Eels," Namazu said shortly.

"We have kraits," Shinji said. "almost every singly ninja in Shadow country is on one contract at the very least; it's how we stay in contact with one-another. Ame-yogensha is my onee-san and we exchange letters regularly through the family summoning contract. It is expected, if not precisely approved of."

"Yogensha-sama is your sister?" Kimmimaro repeated. "Then I am not so surprised that you were able to defeat me so easily."

"She is fairly amazing," Darui agreed.

Shinji shrugged. "She is a strategist, tactician and warrior without equal. I however am the superior medic; I've had the proper training and she hasn't."

"Is that why you chose to pursue a career in the medical field?" Itachi inquired shrewdly. Sasuke had never had the maturity or wisdom to try and excel in a different field than his older brother, instead choosing to chase after his older brother and never being satisfied with his progress.

"It was part of it," Shinji agreed, "but most of my decision was based on the simple fact that I prefer putting people back together to taking them apart. It is more of a challenge."

Notes

Kurai = twilight

Kumo = cloud

Shou = reef

hijutsu = secret technique

A/N: Meet some of the ninja from Shadow country and see what Itachi's been doing with his time. I will not be covering the wedding ceremony in detail but the party afterwards will receive a lot of attention. After all, that is when things tend to happen.

I have too many stories on the go and they are all suffering for it. Bah.