Chapter 9: Mysterious Disappearances
In the dim lighting, the shadows stretched and twisted along the length of the drab hallway. Shoulders hunched and head down, Cat slinked against the wall to his destination. Enshrouded in near darkness, his comrades breezed past him without a hint of acknowledgement. By the time realization hit them, Cat was long gone.
Cat stopped when he reached the door to Danzo's lair, one that very few among the Anbu Root were aware of. He raised his hand, rapping his knuckles twice against the wooden door in quick succession. A momentary pause, then followed up with two sharp knocks separated by five seconds.
His code knock, one that would alert Danzo who was at the door. Over the years, Cat had learned that his knock sequence was extremely similar to his senpai's; one slip up on his part and he would be signaling his identity as Hound. Not that it would do him any good. As far as Danzo was concerned, Hound was dead.
Cat was the only one who knew better.
A soft glow shone from the circular hole in the middle of the door before the lines of sealing kanji etched all over the surface of the door slowly began to retreat into the hole. Cat waited patiently for the layers upon layers of protection Danzo enacted out of paranoia to undo itself before his hand curled around the door handle. Once the last bit of kanji disappeared from sight and the glow faded into darkness again, he pushed down on the handle. The door swung open with a grating creaking noise. Quickly stepping inside, Cat shut the door behind him.
Taking his place on the tatami mat in the middle of the room, Cat planted one knee down onto the ground. He dipped his head out of respect.
Reluctant respect because if anyone could have seen Cat's expression underneath his mask, all they would have seen was a pained grimace and absolute disgust that he was showing respect to a man who had sent his senpai to his death. However, Cat vowed that for however long Hound needed him in Danzo's inner circle, Cat would endure the bile that welled up in his throat every time he showed any respect to the elder man.
"Danzo sama," Cat murmured as he stared pointedly at a particular spot on the nondescript concrete floor. The bottom of Danzo's cane tapped twice against the concrete, Cat's cue to ease his kneeling position.
Cat stood up, straightening his posture, yet his eyes still refused to meet Danzo's. Eyes obscured by the porcelain mask, Danzo wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Although fighting Danzo this way made no discernible difference, it made Cat feel better.
It made him feel a little less like he was betraying Hound.
"I have a mission for you," Danzo declared. "Do you know a boy named Itachi Uchiha?"
Cat nodded. "I have heard of him."
"I want to recruit him into the Root." Danzo's directness almost made Cat visibly tense at the prospect of subjecting another kid to fall victim to his scheme, yet years of mimicking Hound's apathy helped to curb his knee-jerk reaction.
"Hiruzen has already approved you to join Team 2. Become his teammate, his friend, find out his goals, intentions, and motivation. In a few months, his sensei intends to enroll him into the chunin exams. At that time, I want you to help him pass the first few rounds so I can assess his skills in the solo battles."
Underneath his mask, Cat gritted his teeth tightly. "Yes sir."
"Good. Report back to me when you have any news."
Like hell Cat would, but he didn't voice his protests out loud. Instead, he slipped out of the room quietly almost like Cat was never even there at all.
Once again, the two of them sat side by side on the grassy patch that overlooked the riverbank. Although Itachi had been reluctant to let Izumi get close to him initially, after his verbal breakdown over his teammate's death, Itachi found that he was too far gone to care. So he found himself agreeing to Izumi's proposal to return to the quaint tea shop once a week, if both of them happened to be in the village.
Because of an impromptu mission on Itachi's end, their meetup was pushed to the weekend, leading the tea shop to be especially crowded. Rather than to fight for space in the crowd, Izumi suggested that they return to the riverbank. The atmosphere was much more peaceful here…and Itachi found a semblance of serenity, sitting next to Izumi and munching on their dango in silence.
Without the worry of the strange man bearing down on him this time, the dango tasted even better.
Izumi devoured her sticks of dango at a much faster rate than Itachi did. When he saw her opening her mouth to take an especially large bite, Itachi's hand instinctively reached out to stop her from doing so. His fingertips stopped just short of reaching her wrist, but his faltering movement was enough to stop her from taking the bite.
Her large brown eyes stared at him in curiosity.
"Don't eat so fast. You'll choke," Itachi murmured, quickly whipping his head so Izumi couldn't see the twinge of red that blossomed on his cheeks. Soft chuckling floated to his ears.
"Thank you, Itachi kun." Her words reflected none of the usual cheeriness or humor that she exhibited moments before.
His head whirled around so fast that Itachi heard an audible crack from the back of his neck. "For what?"
When Itachi saw Izumi's lips pressed tightly together, he knew that her words of gratitude couldn't have been in reference to his concern about her well-being.
"For making me laugh," Izumi confessed quietly. Her fingers played with the loose thread on her pants, absently wrapping it around her finger until there was no thread left and then slowly unraveling it. Rinse and repeat. "It's been a rough week."
Izumi didn't offer any more details and Itachi didn't wish to pry. "If you're willing to share, I'm here to listen." The offer was completely uncharacteristic of Itachi; his go-to response was always silence, yet he felt compelled to return the favor. When there hadn't been anyone else, Izumi had shown up and listened.
"Can I?"
Itachi nodded hesitantly, already feeling the anxiety crawling in the pit of his stomach. What would he even say? How should he react? Itachi didn't know how to comfort people. This was going to end in a disaster. Izumi wouldn't feel any better than when she first started.
But it was too late to turn back now.
"Have you ever wondered why you have never seen me at the Uchiha compound?" Izumi began. "Or do you not pay attention to who's passing by?"
That question was…odd. The Uchiha crest was stitched proudly on the back of her shirt; Itachi always assumed she was just one of the many clan members that he didn't know. Bearing the status of clan heir meant that he lived on the west side of the Uchiha district – the place where all the "main family" Uchihas congregated. Once or twice, Itachi ventured to the east side in search for Shisui, but most of the time, either Shisui came to him or they met outside of the district.
"I wouldn't recognize every single Uchiha," Itachi eventually settled for, hoping to maintain the equilibrium. He certainly didn't want to lie to someone he considered a friend, yet at the same time, Itachi didn't want to upset her either.
"That's what I figured." Izumi let out a mirthless chuckle. "Most Uchihas wouldn't recognize me, much less know of my existence. The ones who do are not so kind to me. They call me all sorts of names, like–" Here, Izumi choked. "Like a useless half-blood."
"Half-blood?" Itachi echoed. "You only have half Uchiha blood?"
Izumi nodded, tears brimming in the corner of her eyes.
"Why is that an insult?" Itachi questioned. "That doesn't make you less of an Uchiha."
"But that's not what the rest of the clan seems to think!" There it was, the outburst stemming from all of the pent up anger and frustration. "When my mother married my father, they shunned her from the Uchiha district. And then when I was born, they never stopped making fun of me for only having half Uchiha blood. They seem to think that I'll never amount to anything, that I'll never awaken the Sharingan, that I'll never be as strong as those full blooded Uchiha kids."
Izumi let out a sharp exhale. "That I'll never compare to the likes of you." She couldn't keep the quiver out of her voice.
"What happened?"
"Someone saw us at the tea shop last week. They told me that I was unworthy of spending time with a real Uchiha, much less the clan heir."
Hearing the words out loud stung, even if Itachi wasn't on the receiving end of those comments. Situations like this only reminded Itachi why he hated his clan's hard-headed and stubborn ways. The same thing happened when Itachi first befriended Shisui – the clan didn't think someone outside of the main family was worthy of training with the clan heir. The scorn waned when Shisui's prodigal nature helped to prove his prowess as a shinobi early on in his childhood.
But it wasn't the same for Izumi. As a newly minted genin, Izumi hadn't even had the chance to prove herself.
The problem was that Izumi shouldn't have to. Shisui shouldn't have to either. Who Itachi befriended, who Itachi trained with, was solely up to him. Yet his clan's criticisms drove away everyone from his side to the point where Itachi couldn't be bothered anymore.
Shisui was the only one who ever stuck by his side. Itachi wondered if Izumi was going to be driven away too.
"That's not true!" Itachi insisted. If Itachi was anyone else, he most certainly would have showered her with flowery compliments, but he wasn't. Instead, he settled for convincing her to stay. "The clan doesn't get to make those kinds of decisions for me. I have the power to choose who I want to spend time with, and that's not going to change with a few distasteful remarks from the clan elders. Of course unless–" Here, Itachi paused, lowering the volume of his voice. "Unless you don't want to endure it anymore. I understand if it's not worth it."
Izumi shook her head sadly. "If I wanted to leave, I wouldn't be telling you all these things right now. Besides, I have experienced almost nine years worth of their criticisms…I thought I had gotten so numb to the point where none of their words hurt anymore. I don't know why, but this one in particular stung. Maybe it's because I value our friendship so much…"
Izumi let out a frustrated yell. "Urgh! I just wish I can awaken my Sharingan then maybe they'll stop treating me like I'm useless! None of the others have been able to either, so I don't think my chances are good, but still! I want, no I need, to prove to them I'm worthy of bearing the Uchiha crest on my back."
At the words "awaken my Sharingan," Itachi was unwillingly thrown back to the day he awakened his. The horror, the anguish, the trauma he experienced felt like no other. It wasn't until that day did Itachi realize why Shisui remained so tight-lipped when Itachi asked him for tips to unlock the Sharingan.
It was horrifying.
"No," Itachi whispered. "You don't want to awaken the Sharingan. The moment you do, your entire world will be uprooted."
Just like his. Gone were the nights without nightmares. His entire team crumbled apart, torn apart at its seams. Ever since that day, Itachi felt like he was stuck in limbo, quite unsure which way he should go despite equally strong forces tugging him to each side.
Was this the price for power?
If Itachi had a chance to do it all over again, he didn't want it.
Three weeks after Tenma's death, Team 2 was pulled off the temporary hiatus roster and reinstated for active duty. There were two new additions to his team: one Itachi recognized to have the trademark features of an Aburame while the other remained unknown.
The three of them stood to form a triangular formation, each of them blankly staring at each other as if they were sizing each other up as enemies rather than teammates. It wasn't until Yuki sensei's arrival did the three boys even utter a single word to each other. As expected, Yuki made them introduce themselves, nodding at the Aburame to go first.
Yoji Aburame offered up nothing more than his name and rank, leading for the other newcomer, Yamato, to follow suit. Yamato didn't even bother to offer a surname for Itachi to associate him with a clan.
"Itachi Uchiha, genin," Itachi said when his turn came. He couldn't be bothered with much more, if his new teammates weren't willing to put forth any effort either. Then again, that level of effort would have been Itachi too, prior to his team falling apart. Maybe it was better this way. Better that Itachi didn't have the chance to get to know his teammates so he didn't have to experience that same type of hurt all over again.
In just a few short months, their team will participate in the chunin exams. And after that…Itachi would leave the team anyways.
There was no point in getting attached.
The cost was too great.
When Itachi opened his sliding door to an urgent knock in the middle of the night, the last thing he expected was to see Shisui standing on the opposite side of the door. The moonlight illuminated his features, emphasizing the worried creases along his forehead and the uncertainty and fear swimming in his dark eyes. Itachi stepped aside, gesturing for his cousin to enter, but Shisui shook his head.
"My sister is missing," Shisui hissed, cognizant to keep his voice down to not disturb a sleeping Sasuke. His parents were gone for the night, leaving Itachi on babysitting duty, leaving him hesitant to leave the house. Yet Shisui sounded so distraught that it compelled Itachi to go against his instincts and step outside. Itachi closed the door behind him, leaving just a tiny crack so he could hear Sasuke if his otouto cried out for him.
"What do you mean missing?"
"No one has seen her since this morning. Aimi went out earlier to check all of her usual spots and asked around the village, but no one had seen Emiko. Tou san has been waiting at home this entire time. Emiko never came home. All of her stuff is still in her room; all that is missing is the stuff that she takes with her to school."
"When was the last time Emiko was seen?"
"During lunch," Shisui replied. "Aimi and Emiko had lunch together and then they went to their separate classrooms. Usually Emiko likes to go to the library to study after school, so Aimi and Emiko don't usually walk home together. But it's–" Shisui's eyes darted frantically over Itachi's head. "Almost two in the morning and she's still not home. That's unusual."
"Maybe she's sleeping over at a friend's house?" Itachi suggested, although he knew that to be highly improbable. Shisui knew it too, which was why he immediately shut down the idea.
"Aimi already asked all of Emiko's friends if they had seen her. And Emiko wouldn't do that without telling any of us where she was going."
"Did you just get home from a mission?" Itachi asked, even though the answer was quite obvious. The fresh bloodstain splattered on the front of Shisui's flak jacket told Itachi everything he needed to know.
"Yeah, I did."
"You should go home and get some rest," Itachi chided. "There's nothing you can do right now other than blindly searching in the dark. Get some sleep and tomorrow, you'll be more energized to search for her." Itachi jerked his chin towards the sliding door. "Once my parents come home, I'll help you look for her."
Shisui let out a resigned sigh. "I suppose you're right. Thanks, I'll see you in the morning?"
Itachi nodded. Once he could no longer see the outline of Shisui's silhouette in the distance, Itachi slipped back into his house. A soft click pierced through the silence as the lock turned.
The news sent a fresh wave of paranoia rippling through Itachi. His feet padded silently against the cool floorboards as his self-induced panic carried him to Sasuke's doorway. Only when Itachi caught a glimpse of his brother soundly asleep did Itachi's tense posture relax marginally.
The paranoia never truly went away.
The moment Fugaku Uchiha stepped out of the Hokage's office, Shisui and Itachi practically pounced on him. Their eagerness for a verdict trumped their need to maintain their usual composed appearance.
But when Fugaku's response was a tight-lipped, "We'll talk about this at home," both of them knew that it wasn't anything good.
For the entire walk back to the Uchiha compound, Shisui was visibly shaking. If Itachi knew his cousin well, then he was mentally cursing himself out. Blaming himself why he hadn't been there for his family, for being the reason why Emiko had been missing for three days.
None of it was Shisui's fault, but Itachi found that he wasn't in a position to argue otherwise. After all, Itachi would have blamed himself too if Sasuke had gone missing.
His father placed a comforting hand on Shisui's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Shisui. The Inuzuka team traced her scent to the Forest of Death and then lost her trail."
"Lost her trail?" Shisui echoed. "A person just doesn't disappear into thin air. At least, there should be a–" Here, Shisui swallowed a choked sob. "There should be a body."
"I know, even the Inuzuka's thought it was strange. It was almost like whoever it was knew how to cover up their scent, so they couldn't trace them any further than the center of the forest."
"So it's confirmed that someone took her?"
"That's what we're speculating. Of course, we cannot rule out every single possibility yet, but it's likely that Emiko didn't go of her own free will."
"Then what can we do?" Shisui questioned in a pleading voice. "I can't just sit here and wait for something to happen. Even if it's too late to save my sister, the least I can do is track down that bastard to save the other children."
"I know and I understand your frustration, but without a lead on who this person is, you'll be searching blindly in the dark."
When Itachi saw Shisui's crestfallen expression, he felt compelled to speak up. Even if it would only give Shisui the slimmest bit of hope. "That's not necessarily true. The Inuzuka team confirmed that Emiko's scent never left the village. The last spot they were able to follow her to was the Forest of Death. The person must have a good understanding of Konoha to avoid detection. The Forest of Death isn't a place that outsiders would know how to navigate either, so it's likely the abductor is someone who lives in Konoha."
Shisui perked up, snapping his fingers. "And we can rule out all of the civilians and genins in the village. Knowing how to erase their scent and trail completely is an advanced skill. Likely it's someone of jonin class, but I don't want to rule out the possibility of an experienced chunin."
Fugaku nodded. "The Hokage has agreed to offer some personnel to help us crack this case, but your analysis gives us quite a good start."
Shisui opened his mouth, ready to interject that he was willing to help with the investigation too, but Fugaku interrupted him. "I know you don't want to idly sit by and wait, but it would be a conflict of interest if I allow you to join the case. The two of you can make yourselves useful by patrolling the village. Keep an eye out for any suspicious behavior. And make sure the children–"
Fugaku never got the chance to finish his order. A Uchiha officer bursted into Fugaku's office, forgoing all formalities of knocking. An alarmed look shone in his eyes, matching his disheveled appearance.
"Tai chou! Another Uchiha kid has gone missing."
It felt like a bucket of ice water had been poured all over them.
A/N: Hi again!
And so the Uchiha drama begins! Three guesses as who is behind the Uchiha kidnapping of the Uchiha children. Honestly, the more I write this story, the more I begin to realize this fic is just an excuse to make my favorite characters interact (Kakashi, Itachi, Shisui, and Tenzo) lol. Of course, can't pass up an opportunity for Akatsuki Kakashi either haha.
I hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you thought and until next time!
-MM