He turned his head around to face his distraught lover, his blood red eyes piercing into her own. With the power he held, he placed her in a dream that showed her the life they could've lived together. It showed them getting married, having children, watching their children have children, and finally grow old together. The girl was soon on her death bed, her lover by her side as life slipped away from her body.
The dream only lasted a split second in real time. Once the second was over, her legs gave out. The boy quickly caught her in his arms. Her body was tricking her into dying. There was nothing she could do about it as she began to breathe the last breaths she would ever take.
The boy looked into her eyes once more, expecting betrayal and fear, but the only thing he saw was happiness and fulfillment. He couldn't help but have tears come out of his own eyes as he watched her smile while trying to mutter her last words.
"Thank you," she finally whispered, taking shaky breaths. He held his hands on her face, as if trying to hold onto her so she wouldn't leave him. She grazed her hand along his ebony hair, still smiling.
Finally, her pupils dilated, her body fell limp, and yet she still had that smile on her face.
"I should be the one to thank you," the boy whispered back. He held onto her hand one last time before finally letting go of-
Itachi turned the page to see how the story would continue, but unfortunately was left with the back end of the book. He noticed some little ripped pieces of paper still attached to the spine. He groaned.
"Sasuke!" Itachi yelled hoping his little brother would hear him. He loved that kid, but man could he be annoying messing up so many things for him.
"WHAT?" Sasuke screamed a bit too loudly for Itachi's ears to not start bleeding. Even Shisui who was too absorbed in his laptop to notice anything jumped a bit and later covered his ears in suffering.
Itachi sighed, looking back at the last pages of the book that had been mercilessly ripped out. He thought about yelling at Sasuke and blaming him for ripping the pages and thus ruining his future, but he was just too tired. This was not how he thought his third year of Highschool would be going.
Mr. Senju had assigned him to do a book report on an old traditional Japanese book of his choice. It was a hard decision to make since he wasn't really aware of many books of those kinds, until Itachi remembered a little old book that his mother used to read to him as a kid. It a was a fairly dark story about a 13 year old forced to kill his lover for the sake of his village. Although, since Itachi had already taken forever to choose the book he was to do and Mr. Senju already seemed to hate his guts for some unknown reason, he was stuck getting the help from his friend Shisui (who unfortunately acted like a dumbass half the time) on a Saturday.
Now, Itachi had finally got a hold of the book and was about to finish reading it to see what he was working with, until he found out that the last paged were MISSING. Mr. Senju was sure to fail him now! He sighed once again looking up at the ceiling.
"Ugh, bullshit!" Shisui scolded his own laptop, looking like he was ready to punch it. "First, the last few pages are missing, and now there's literally nothing online about it. Complete and utter BULLSHIT." He put some emphasis on that last curse.
Mikoto, Itachi's mother, peeked into the living room to see what all the commotion was about. "Is everything alright boys?" she asked in her calm, yet stern voice.
Shisui dropped a sweat as he turned to reassure the woman, "Everything's fine Mrs. Itachi's mom! Just getting to work on this project!" He was a terrible liar, even when he wasn't even trying to lie.
Mikoto hummed in response, and set her eyes on Itachi, "You should be glad your father isn't here to listen to your friend curse like a sailor." Itachi gave his dumbass friend the stink eye as said friend got up to bow and apologize to his mother.
Once they were alone again Shisui was the first to break the silence, "Are you sure you wanna do this book? I can't find it in any library databases so far, so it might not even count for your book report if it can't be found anywhere else." Itachi considered his friend's suggestion. Should he do this book. There were probably plenty of others that were available at the library, so why should he continue on this one when it was so hopeless? Then again, there was something about it that compelled him. Perhaps it was how it had ties to his childhood. Whatever the reason, he didn't want to give up on it.
"I want to do this one!" he responded, a bit too determinedly that it was awkward.
Shisui shrugged, "Whatever you say boss. But keep in mind that this is gonna be pretty difficult. Although, I suppose I could always talk to some friends to see if they could get you onto some hidden website or something that has the book." Itachi perked up at what Shisui had said. He knew that his friend's friends had certain ... connections to other places that were probably illegal, but at this point he was desperate and determined, so what was the harm in doing anything anyways?
He nodded his head, "Well let's do it then. You talk to your friends about it and get back to me as soon as you can." Shisui nodded, with a small smirk on his face. Little did Itachi know that a mischievous side of him loved doing secretive and semi illegal things like this. Shisui left with the smirk still on his face.
.
It was already Wednesday, four days had gone by since Shisui had agreed to getting some information on that damn book, and he hadn't got back to Itachi yet! It was around noon and the juniors were piling into the large, white-yellow cafeteria building, or going outside into the school's pleasant lawn/garden area. Itachi sat down on a bench outside with grass and bushes surrounding it. He got out the bento his mother made and sighed.
The book report was due that Friday, but Itachi had only filled out the little that he could about the book. It was supposed to be Shisui's study hall around this time, and Itachi swore is Shisui didn't at least text him on how the info finding was going, he would break that dumb laptop he always carried around in half.
Itachi's phone chimed. Speak of the devil, he thought as he saw Shisui's name pop up in the notifications. The text read:
Shisui: Yo my friends agreed to take u to the U of K's library archives to find the book but their waiting on an opportunity to take u so u will just have to wait some more sorry bro
The fact that Itachi would have to wait even longer to get the ending of the book annoyed him even more than Shisui's lack of good grammar in the text. He decided to text back to pass time.
Itachi: Who exactly are these "friends" of yours?
Shisui: just some guys who go to the U of K
Itachi: Names?
Shisui: mostly Obito and kakashi but maybe rin idk who else involved
Itachi: Okay, are you going to swing by the cafeteria, or are you actually going to study this time?
Shisui: oh actually my study hall was moved to a different time so now I'm gonna go to a club rn
Itachi: Oh, okay. Text me back when you hear back from those University students.
Shisui: k
It honestly made Itachi left out because Shisui wouldn't be able to talk to him during lunch anymore, but he was glad Shisui was trying out new things like clubs. Although, Itachi's mind was still focused on this book report (you're probably getting sick and tired of hearing how depressed Itachi is about this book report and thinking "book reports aren't that bad, and Itachi's a genius anyways", but you don't know how hard a book report can get if you haven't been in Tobirama Senju's literature class!).
Itachi tried to focus on other things, like the beautiful weather and greenery that was surrounding him. The grass on the lawn sure looked pretty green after the rain during the summer. There were students in their uniforms laughing and having fun while eating lunch with each other. Although, the peace was definitely ruined when a bunch of fan girls standing a bunch of feet away began gushing over Itachi as he noticed them.
Itachi sighed (AGAIN?). He looked down at the bento that his mother had packed. It was just two onigiris. He decided he could use some sugar to make his lunch a bit more enjoyable, and he had just the place in mind.
It was a dango shop just around the corner from where the school was, and since students were allowed to go to nearby shops to get food during lunch, Itachi had made going to the dango shop almost apart of his daily routine. You can imagine how popular the little store began to get because of how popular Itachi was.
Although, it surprised him when there weren't many people lined up to get some dango and tea from there. Actually, there wasn't anybody at all except for a worker sweeping the outside of the shop.
"Hello Shinko," Itachi addressed the worker sweeping. He had known her from middle school. "Why aren't there many people here?"
Shinko looked up at him with a tired look on her face, "Hey Itachi. We actually haven't been able to restock any ingredients because of the traffic downtown, so we decided to close early today and can't sell that many treats." Itachi raised his eyebrows, disappointed even more until Shinko continued, "Although, we do have that tri-colored dango that you really like. I can go get you some." Itachi nodded a yes and followed her inside the store.
Once he finally gave Shinko the money and gripped the bag of dango preparing to take it off the counter, there was suddenly a loud bang from someone opening the door in a panic. He turned around to see a long haired brunette with his high school's uniform trying to catch her breath with her hands on her knees.
The girl cleared her throat, "Sorry to make such a commotion but," she took more tired breaths, "I really wanted to get some dango before lunch was over. She looked over expectantly at Shinko with a sweaty smile on her face.
"Sorry, but I just sold him the last ones," Shinko gestured to Itachi. The girl sighed, now looking defeated.
Itachi observed the girl more closely as she walked over to the counter. Besides the Leaf High school uniform, she wore a red armband on her left arm and a long purple fingerless glove that ran nearly the entire length of her right arm. As she got closer, he noticed she was a fairly pretty girl, around his age.
"Here, you can still have a tip," she gave a friendly smile as she dropped some money into the tip jar.
What really caught Itachi's attention however was the necklace that dangled beneath her neck as she leaned over the counter to tip the store. Hanging from the necklace was a red and white fan, the symbol of the Uchiha Clan.
Itachi didn't know much about the Uchiha Clan or its symbol, but he did know that it used to be a pretty famous and powerful clan back in the day. His father also had that same red and white fan symbol in his office as a picture on the wall.
"Thank you so much!" Shinko marveled at the girl's generosity, "Come another time and I'll be happy to give you a treat!" The girl nodded and turned to leave the store.
There was something about this girl that made Itachi peek an interest in her. Not only did she have the Uchiha Clan symbol as a necklace, but she showed kindness to a small shop. He followed her outside and just as she was about to turn the corner to head back to the school, he grabbed her shoulder.
She turned around, astonished to see who had touched her, "Uh, Itachi right?" He nodded politely.
"I just happened to notice that you still tipped even though you didn't get anything from the store," he began, "I thought maybe you'd like to have some of mine? I get dango at that shop almost everyday anyways." Now that he was up close with the girl, Itachi actually recognized her, specifically the mole under her right eye. He would see her in his neighborhood walking back from school. He guessed he lived in the neighborhood.
The girl's cheeks turned a shade of pink as he held out the bag of dango, "You mean like, share it?" Itachi was about to answer yes, until he heard his phone chime again, indicating that Shisui had just texted him.
"You can have the bag," he said, "Maybe some other time though." The girl took the bag, gazing into Itachi's dark eyes. Finally, she snapped out of the trance she was in, and bowed to thank him. He nodded again, and walked past her, leaving her with her own thoughts.
Itachi opened his phone to see what Shisui had to say this time.
Shisui: uh so I just passed Mr Senju ur literature teach in the halls and he looks pissed! Be prepared for next period
Itachi: I'll keep a mental note of it.
Itachi went back into his depressed and worried state. Just what he needed, an angry Mr. Senju. It wasn't like. Mr. Senju wasn't angry all the time. All thought, Itachi suspected this time would be far worse.
.
It was just as he had suspected. Well, not really. 7th period came and went, and Literature class actually went pretty well. They went over the lesson, got to working on their reports, and Mr. Senju seemed to be in a fairly good mood (or at least less angry than usual). It was at the end of the period that was terrible.
The bell had just rung and Mr. Senju dismissed his students, except for Itachi, "Itachi could you stay with me after class?" Sweat trickled down Itachi's face. This couldn't be good, but why was he even surprised anymore?
"Itachi," Mr. Senju began, "From your past grades in literature, you have done astounding work, except for in my class. And this particular project is where I cross the line." Itachi held back the urge to scoff right in his teacher's face. The worst he got in this class was a C. It wasn't like he was failing. "Since it is my duty to make sure all of my students are in a good environment for learning and are at the right stage of what they're learning, I've decided to move you from my AP literature class to Mr. Sarutobi's literature class."
What?" Itachi actually scoffed this time, and noticed Mr. Senju's brow furrowed a bit when he did. "Mr. Senju this has to be a misunderstanding." The teacher raised his hand to keep him from going on any further.
"This is what the school has decided what's best for you. There will be no further arguing about it."
"You mean I'll be in Mr. Sarutobi's class for the rest of the year?" Mr. Senju didn't look like he was in the mood to further explain this. "What about this last project? Why is it the reason I'm being moved?"
Mr. Senju rolled his eyes before continuing, "I checked your paper online, and you've barely gotten anything done! Speaking of which, I can't find anything on this particular book you've chosen, so I can't be sure whether or not you're making the whole thing up!"
"I am not making it up! I have the book at home, but the last few pages were missing so I had to wait until we find a new one! Please just give me more time on this project and I swear I'll get it done, and it'll be amazing!" Mr. Senju raised a brow and thought about it for a moment.
"Fine, finish the project, but you still have to attend Mr. Sarutobi's literature class!"
"If I finish it can I go back to AP literature?" Itachi was desperate, and about to get on his knees to pray to Mr. Senju.
"We will see how well you do on your book report to determine whether or not you can come back," Mr. Senju concluded, and with that Itachi rushed to his next class. Although, he could've sworn he heard the teacher mutter "damn Uchihas" under his breath.
.
His parents hadn't taken the news very lightly. Not many parents would. His father gave him a stern look, saying, "I'm disappointed in you son. I really expected more from you." Itachi wanted badly to tell his father that Mr. Senju had it out for him, which was why his class was switched in the first place, but kept the thoughts to himself and nodded respectfully.
"Switching from an AP class to a normal class?" his father continued. "This is outrageous!"
"Fugaku.." Mikoto put a hand on her husband's arm. "Don't go so hard on him." She then directed her attention towards her son, "We aren't necessarily happy about this, but it's not all too bad that you got moved to a normal class."
Fugaku cut her off, "What do you mean? It is bad! He's been failing his AP literature class, so the school had to move him down to the normal literature class. It has 'bad' written all over it!"
At this statement, Mikoto gave Fugaku's arm a slight smack and scolded, "Well if he needs to be in the normal literature class then let him be in the normal literature class! If it's what the school thinks is best for him then we should just leave it alone."
"If he needs to be in the normal literature class, that means he's not studying enough!" Fugaku countered, "I mean, he's always hanging out with that weird friend of his doing who knows what!"
Great. Just what Itachi needed: his parents bickering over him when he could be spending his time in better ways. Well, it wasn't like he really had anything else to do at home. Itachi had sped through all his homework during study hall and lunch, and he was still awaiting the text he would get from Shisui to let him know when they could go to the library archives to get the book. He desperately needed that book now. As his parents went back and forth, Itachi just sat through it in silence before they dismissed him so they could settle it on their own.
Now, in his bedroom, all he could think about was what to do now? Besides wait for a damn text message from Shisui. A chime was heard coming from his pocket. Speak of the goddamn devil. Itachi looked at the text that he had just received.
Shisui: k they agreed on a time and location
Itachi: Finally.
Shisui: lol yea
Itachi: Well aren't you going to tell me?
Shisui: right so they said to meet them at the u of k dormitories after school tmrw and they'd be waiting in the lobby
Itachi: Sounds easy enough. Anything we should bring?
Shisui: prob a bag or smth or we could go straight there from school
Itachi: Let's do the latter.
Shisui: k meet up at the fountain?
Shisui was referring to a beautifully flowing fountain at the front of Leaf High School, with a statue of Hashirama Senju at the top.
Itachi: Sure. I'll see you then.
Shisui: yuh
With that, the texting conversation between the two ended, and therefore Itachi was left to just wait until tomorrow to get his life back together again. If there even was a chance he could do that.
.
Itachi couldn't help but sweat a little as the and Shisui approached the giant school the next day. He kept trying to reassure himself that it didn't matter if he was put in Mr. Sarutobi's literature class, he would still find the book in the library and then work on his book report and...the reassuring wasn't working that well. Perhaps if he took it out on something? Violent, but could you blame him?
He kicked a rock on the sidewalk. How was he supposed to face all of those students in his new literature class? There were plenty of students who already thought of him as a freak for being the way he was, but how would they think of him now? He kicked a rock again, but missed this time and instead kicked the back of Shisui's leg. Of course, Shisui let out a high pitched yelp like a girl (something Itachi would definitely use to tease him later).
"What's your problem man?" Shisui asked, a bit annoyed, "You haven't been yourself all morning."
"Well, you already heard about..." Itachi reminded, "What happened.."
Shisui patted his back, "Don't sweat it bro. You're going to do phenomenal on that book report, and kick Mr. Senju's ass!" Itachi felt more relaxed about the situation as Shisui hyped him up.
"Wow, what a big word for your vocabulary Shisui," Itachi referred to how he had used the word "phenomenal" in his sentence. Shisui rolled his eyes in response as they entered the school.
.
It was 12:34, Thursday, 7th period. Time for Mr. Sarutobi's literature class. Itachi decided to walk into the class with a calm expression, showing no sign of emotion (like he usually did), and make a good impression on the students and teacher.
He pushed the sliding doors aside and stepped one foot, then the other into the classroom. The walls were that white-yellow color that was how most of the school was. The floor was made of light brown wooden floorboards, and the desks were all lined up so they faced the front of the classroom where Mr. Sarutobi had his desk, podium, and chalkboard.
"Well class, I'd like you to give our new student, Itachi Uchiha, a warm welcome as he's going to be joining our class for some time," Mr. Sarutobi announced with a friendly smile. Although, Itachi couldn't say the same about the other students.
"Doesn't he already go to this school?" a girl asked out loud.
"Well, yes, but like I said he'll be joining us for some time," the teacher replied.
"Then he can sit next to me!" the girl began trying to push the boy sitting to the right of her out of his seat. The boy rolled his eyes.
Other kids began to pitch in about Itachi's presence.
"Hah! He's too stupid for AP literature he had to move to dumb people literature!"
"Itachi! Sit here!"
"He should be in special ed literature!"
"No sit next to me Itachi! I'll share my notes!"
"Imagine having to move classes!"
It was mostly the boys insulting him on getting moved to their class, and the girls gushing over him. It took old Mr. Sarutobi quite a while to have them settle down, but even then they still whispered things about him.
"You can sit over at that desk," Mr. Sarutobi was gesturing to one in the middle of the room, in between a brunette girl and an empty desk.
Once he settled down into his new seat, Itachi couldn't help but notice the girl to the right of him glancing at him. He looked at her as well, and realized that this was the girl he had seen at the dango shop. She had the same mole under her right eye, the red armband and purple glove, and a small silver chain draped around her neck, the Uchiha symbol hidden beneath her shirt.
She gave him a friendly wave, although Mr. Sarutobi had began his lesson, so she turned her attention toward the front of the class. Itachi did the same.
As expected, Itachi answered all of the questions on the worksheet he had been given with ease, being the first to finish his paper. He thought about reading a book to pass the time, but there was too much chatter in the class to even think about doing so. He could do nothing but stare at the wall.
"Hey," a cheerful voice to the right of him said. Itachi turned to see the brunette girl. "Remember me?"
"You're the dango girl from yesterday," Itachi stated bluntly. The girl giggled a bit.
"I guess you could say that," she stopped laughing and focused on his paper in awe. "Wow, you finished so fast! So it's true what they saw about the famed Itachi Uchiha." Itachi shrugged. He was used to this kind of behavior from everybody, but he didn't know why they had to focus on him so much. Couldn't they focus on themselves for a change?
Being the polite Uchiha that he was, Itachi replied to her with a compliment, "You did your work pretty quickly yourself." The girl smiled and blushed a bit.
"Oh, it's nothing," she humbled herself. Her face then shifted to more of a serious look. "So, about yesterday, I was hoping I could pay you back for the dango. Well, I mean ... you did say ... we could ... share it."
Itachi recalled the slight promise he had given her. He was getting to used to saying "maybe some other time" to people that he just did it wherever he pleased now! It wasn't like he hated the thought of sharing the dango with the girl, but she just seemed like another one of his fan girls that there would be no enjoyment in it.
However, before Itachi could respond, a snickering was heard behind him. He felt a hand grip his low ponytail and wave it around, making it smack his back now and then. The audacity of some people, Itachi thought.
"Stop it you guys!" the girl next to him hissed, "Stop it Saisu!" She smacked the boy behind Itachi in the arm, making him stop messing with Itachi.
"Whatever," the boy, whose name was apparently Saisu, focused back on his work.
Itachi was grateful the girl did that for him. He hadn't wanted to cause a scene in trying to stop the boy, especially when it was his first day in the class. He gave the girl a quick thanks.
"It's no problem," she assured, "I just hate seeing people tormenting others! I don't see why people have the need to disrupt the peace and cause chaos!" Itachi nodded. So this girl was somewhat of a pacifist, like himself. It made him even more interested. In fact, Itachi felt a small smile creep onto his face.
The two began to talk more about whatever they could think of until the bell rang. Itachi couldn't believe time had flew by just like that. The students were now rushing out of the classroom, and there were some who were rushing in. The girl was packing up her things into her bag swiftly. She was about to get up and leave when Itachi grabbed her arm.
"Wait," he said, "I didn't get your name."
The girl smiled, "Izumi."
.
Izumi. It rolled off the tongue so well. To Itachi at least. It was the prettiest name he had ever heard. He swore he had heard it somewhere else before though. He was sure he knew the meaning of the name, but it wasn't coming back to him. He didn't know why he felt so interested in that girl. He especially didn't know why he had the urge to see her again. Perhaps because she was the only good and memorable thing that happened to him that entire day?
He had just made a quick trip to his locker, and was now hurrying down the halls to get to the front of the school. Some students were staring at him as he flew by, confused at what got Itachi Uchiha so pumped at the end of the day. Soon enough, he had made it to the two giant front doors, bursting through them to see that magnificent statue of Hashirama on the wide pathway leading to the front gates.
Strangely, the water that was being sprayed out from Hashirama's feet and landing in the circular pool near the ground, was a very bright shade of cyan. It wasn't clear like how it used to be. Itachi gave Shisui a confused look as he neared the ledge that his friend was situated on.
"Pretty cool, huh?" Shisui said with a grin. He had his precious laptop to the left of him, messing with some keys.
"You did this?" Itachi asked, still taking in the sight of the light blue water. He wouldn't lie, it was pretty. Shisui nodded, and with a click of a button on his laptop, the water began to changing to different colors each second.
"It's for the founder's upcoming birthday," he explained, "I was appointed to do it since I have a well working laptop." Itachi nodded mindlessly, captivated by the glow of the water. "I thought I'd work on getting it set up before we went on campus. You know that on the 23rd there's a party, and lots of people hang out by the-"
"Izumi," Itachi finished the sentence, and at the same time finally remembered that sweet name meant "fountain".
"I guess that's one way you could put it," Shisui mumbled, getting his stuff together to get ready to leave.
Although, Itachi didn't even hear him, but instead heard a musical like voice from behind him mutter, "Huh?" It was a voice he recognized from earlier. Swiftly turning around, Itachi set his eyes on the brown haired Izumi.
"Itachi!" she exclaimed as a smile immediately came across her face when she saw who had spoken. "I had thought it was you who said my name."
"Uh, yeah," he thought of what he could say after randomly saying her name out of the blue. He must've been in such a trance that he forgot he was in public. Meanwhile, Shisui was looking between the two, confused as ever.
"I'm glad I caught up with you," Izumi said, "I was actually hoping that we could walk home together." Itachi gave a small smile as he sweat a bit knowing that he couldn't go with her. Seeing his seemingly uncomfortable look she quickly corrected, "Not that I wanted to bother you or anything! It's just that we live in the same neighborhood and I thought that we could accompany each other because otherwise it would be super awkward just walking in the same direction and not talking or anything." The girl began rambling on, and Itachi felt his sweat multiplying as he didn't know how to stop her and kindly tell her no in such a moment.
Luckily, Shisui came to the rescue, "Hey, I'm Shisui, a friend of Itachi's." Izumi stopped abruptly to look at the older boy, who had on a smile that could make any girl faint. "I was wondering if I could steal Itachi just for this afternoon, and instead maybe you could walk home with his younger brother." Shisui gestured to Sasuke, who had been waiting patiently to leave with his older brother. Upon seeing the girl, Sasuke exchanged a confused glance with Shisui, who just shrugged in the same confusion.
"Oh," a surprised Izumi muttered, "Okay, I guess." She began slowly backing away, waiting for the younger Uchiha to follow.
"Wait, what-" before Sasuke could finish, Shisui had shoved him over to walk home with Izumi.
Picking up the last of his things, Shisui asked, "Ready to go?" Itachi nodded.
.
The sounds of cars rushing past and the chatter of all kinds of people could be heard as the two boys walked through the streets on the campus of the University of Konoha. They were on the side walk to the right of the street, the tall buildings next to them providing a cool shadow.
"So," Shisui began, "Are we not gonna talk about that girl at the fountain?" Itachi was brought out of his thoughts and looked up at his friend who continued speaking. "Why was she asking you to walk home? Assuming that she's just another one of your fan girls."
"I met her yesterday," Itachi replied, "Well, technically I officially met her today, during Mr, Sarutobi's literature class."
"Oh, so she's a friend?" Shisui added with a smirk, "Or maybe a little bit more?" Itachi looked taken a back and also flustered.
"W-why, h-how could you suggest such a thing?" he stuttered.
Shisui giggled, "Chill, I'm just messing with you. She was pretty though." Itachi didn't know why, but from that last comment, he felt a sort of anger or jealousy firing up inside of him, even though he completely agreed. Izumi was a fine girl.
"Whatever," Itachi muttered, "Is this the place?" Shisui had stopped in front of a light gra y building towering over them, with several glass doors and windows. Beyond the glass, you could see a professional looking lobby, the main color being gray.
Shisui nodded, "This is Obito's dormitory." Itachi raised an eyebrow. This was way too luxurious to be a college dormitory. "I know what you're thinking, and yeah it's rather an apartment than a dormitory." With that, the two headed inside.
It looked even nicer inside with a front desk adjacent to the doors with several receptionists, lounging areas with TVs to the right, and a dining area with a cafe to the left. Sitting on a couch to the right, was a dark haired man wearing an open thin black jacket over a white shirt and matching black ripped jeans. He was staring intently at his phone, looking quite intimidating with a heavy scar on an entire half of his face. When the man looked up however his frown turned upside down, and he got up waving at the two boys.
"Yo, Shisui!" he yelled a bit too loudly across the room that a nearby receptionist gave him a glare. "So this must be Itachi." Itachi kept a straight face throughout, although was caught by surprise by the man's sudden change of mood. "You're a handsome looking young man. Must be the Uchiha blood in you. Although, I can't say that you're as good looking as me." He and Shisui grinned at the comment.
"You must be Obito Uchiha," Itachi stated. Obito nodded.
"Aw c'mon Itachi, loosen up a bit," Shisui prodded, noticing his friend's robotic like behavior to the stranger, "He's a distant relative y'know." Itachi sighed. His friend was right, Obito had the same last name as him yet he acted cold towards him. He just didn't trust the man yet.
After a short talk in the lobby (mostly between Shisui and Obito), the three Uchihas headed outside and across the street to the University of Konoha's library. It had the same color theme as the dormitory, but was much wider and shorter.
"Wait," Itachi eyed the other two suspiciously, "I thought Kakashi Hatake was supposed to be coming?"
Upon his inquiry, Obito sighed and shook his head, "Damn Kakashi, always late to everything. Sorry about that. You'll just be getting me today." All of a sudden, his expression changed to a surprised and longing look as he exclaimed, "Look, there's Rin!"
The woman who he had begun pointing to looked up astonished at her name being called out. She was behind the main counter in the library, wearing a black short sleeved shirt with "Vans" printed on it, and a light pink skirt that came to her thigh. She smiled when she noticed them.
"Hey Obito!" Rin greeted. They came up to the counter look expectantly at her before Obito spoke again.
"This is Rin Nohara," he introduced, "She works here at the library and goes to the U of K." He stared at her with a peaceful look in his eyes as she nodded.
"And I have just the thing for you two," she said before going into back room behind the counter, and then coming out with a book in her hand. "I heard about your situation ahead of time, so I looked through the library's archives, and sure enough I found a book that matched your exact description. Although, I read through it a bit and it actually has more to the story than the original book had. It's like your book was just a part of this one."
A wave of questioned came to Itachi as he listened to Rin's words. It was surprising that there was more to the story than what the old book in his house told. Although, he never knew where his mother had got the book, so there was always the possibility that this could've happened. Itachi took the book from the librarian's hands, gripping it with relief.
He eyed the cover, which had a picture of a raven on it. Strangely, the original story that he owned had nothing to do with a raven. Although, you can probably hear the gasp of shock that escaped the 16 year old's mouth when he looked at the title of the book.
Perhaps by coincidence, or by fate, but whatever the reason was, the first word of the books title was:
"Itachi".
I know, the concept of the story might be kind of hard to follow, and this is quite long for just one chapter, but trust me, it'll get better. Thanks for reading till the end, and stay tuned for the next chapter!
-Sue
