Chapter 2:

Parting

15 minutes. The walk from Leaf High School to their neighborhood took 15 minutes, yet they had already wasted five on nothing but silence except for the occasional breeze that whispered past. Izumi and Sasuke were walking next to each other on a side walk in the suburbs close to the city. Izumi thought about saying something to break the silence, but Sasuke beat her to it.

"So why am I being forced to walk home with you?" he asked.

"Oh," Izumi could've asked the same question. "Well, I suggested that Itachi and I walk home together since we live in the same neighborhood, but I guess he had some other things to do with that friend of his. So I guess we're stuck together for now." She gave a little chuckle, but Sasuke didn't look too amused.

"Why did you want to walk home with him in the first place?" Sasuke interrogated her, squinting his eyes out of suspicion. "And why was he acting so weird around you? What's your relationship to him? Are you one of his fan girls, or something more?" Izumi felt very cornered with the mass amount of questions thrown her way. She tried to maintain a friendly smile, even though she was sweating heavily in the cold Uchiha's presence.

"Good questions.." she started, "Uh, well, I just thought by walking home together we could get to learn more about each other, and just talk. It was kinda weird that he looked so surprised to see me, but I swear we're just friends! I'm not one of those crazy fan girls of his."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "Friends? If Itachi had a friend who was female, he would tell me, or I would at least see you hanging out with him. But the reality is that Itachi doesn't have female friends. What makes you think you can claim a friendship with him?" This kid was being very defensive over his older brother. Izumi, startled by Sasuke's sudden hostility when they only just met, thought hard about how to respond to him. Her brain suddenly remembered something important. Something very personal to her. Although in the moment, she decided to just share it with this kid she barely knew.

"I actually met him a few years ago," she started saying. By now Izumi had stopped walking, causing Sasuke to stop and look at her with confusion and more suspicion. "It was before I had moved to this side of town, and before my father died." Sasuke still stared at her, now with more interest than confusion. "He had saved my life, and I didn't even get to thank him for it." Izumi was looking at the ground, her eyes dull. "And I don't know, I guess going through something traumatic causes you to bond with someone in a strange way, but-" Before finishing that sentence, Izumi jerked her head up, the life returning back to her eyes as she broke out of her trance. "Oh my god, why am I even telling you this?!"

Embarrassed, a shade of pink appearing on her cheeks, she continued walking and said, "Sorry! This is a personal matter. I shouldn't be telling you this." Sasuke followed her, suspicion coming back to him now. What is this girl hiding? He wondered. "Look, Itachi and I are just classmates, alright?" Before he could say anything, Izumi ran ahead of Sasuke, eventually leaving him to walk alone as she went to who knows where.

Staring at her slowly fading sillouette, Sasuke shook his head, muttering, "Women.." as he continued to walk the rest of the 10 minutes to his house.


Finding your first name on the title of a book usually wouldn't be a big deal, especially not for the aloof Itachi. Unfortunately, this particular book was pretty sketchy, and Itachi could only stare dumbfounded at his name engraved into the hard cover.

Everybody else seemed to be in the same shock as Itachi until Shisui decided to break the silence, "Maybe your mom named you after the book." It was a stupid suggestion, but it made sense.

"I know it's quite a shocker that the book is named after you," Rin said, "Or you were named after the book. But that's just the title. The story itself actually doesn't feature any names. Upon hearing the statement, Itachi flipped through the book trying to find some sort of proper noun, but Rin was right. There were absolutely no names mentioned in the book. Just like in the one we have at home, Itachi thought.

"Maybe it's based off a true story, so they can't share any of the people's names," Obito suggested.

"No, if that was the case the names would've been changed, not removed completely," Itachi stated.

Rin smirked, "Obito being silly as usual." She gave a little laugh that made Obito crack a smile as well.

"Indeed," a deep voice behind the group exclaimed. Turning around, Itachi met eyes with a silver haired man, around Obito and Rin's age, wearing a dark green hoodie over a black long sleeved shirt, and black ripped jeans. Strangely, he had a matching black mask covering his mouth, and a small scar going across his left eye. Shisui has some sketchy looking friends, Itachi thought to himself, narrowing his eyes at the new stranger's appearance.

Obito's smile immediately dropped as he said, "Well, look what the cat dragged in." He eyed the silver haired man up and down with a look of dissapointment. The man gave a nervous wave. "Kakashi, you're LATE." Obito began scolding the silver haired man whose name was apparently Kakashi.

"Don't mind them," Rin reassured the two younger boys, "They're always like this after a long day." Upon realizing the two probably wouldn't stop bickering, Shisui began pulling his charm on the brown haired librarian, but Itachi began getting lost in his thoughts.

He had recovered from the slight shock of his name being part of the title. It would make sense if his mother had named him off of a book she found interesting, but what would Mr. Senju think. The old teacher would definitely want some answers as to why the book Itachi fought so desperately over had his name on it. Would he think I made the book up? Or perhaps he wouldn't allow it since it came from the library's archives.. that would probably do some damage to the grade I receive on my book report.

"Hey Rin," Kakashi greeted the girl, forcing Itachi's attention back on the group. Kakashi strolled behind the desk, meeting up with Rin who dangled her arms around his neck. In response, he put his arms around her waste so that they were in an intimate hug. Itachi noticed them touch noses briefly, in a loving way. What Itachi noticed even more was Obito's cold stare glaring at their interaction. It was like a look of defeat, but also longing. Itachi guessed he was probably diassaproving of Kakashi and Rin's relationship, whatever it might be.

Speaking of which, Itachi had actually heard of Kakashi. He was supposedly a very successful student, majoring in law, and having won many awards for multiple schools he had attended. Although, it seemed that Itachi had stole his spotlight in academia over the years.

"We should head home now," Itachi told Shisui. He wanted to start reading the book so he could get to work on his book report. After saying their goodbyes to the college students, the two Uchiha were on their way home, with the book finally in their grasp.


"I'm home!" Itachi called into his family's quiet house. Upon hearing of his arrival, his mother walked out of the kitchen to greet him.

"Welcome back," she said with a cheerful smile, "Where did you head off to?"

"Just the library," Itachi replied. He took off his shoes while Mikoto tidied up the living room.

"Yo," Sasuke's voice was heard from the top of the stairs. He was leaning on the railing looking down at Itachi. "That girl from today was so weird."

"Girl?" Mikoto perked up and looked between her two sons. Itachi, not wanting to have a conversation about this, and especially not in front of his mother, walked up the stairs.

"It's nothing," he called back to Mikoto as he smacked Sasuke lightly across the head.

"OW!" his little brother winced dramatically. Itachi rolled his eyes as he continued up the stairs.

"Be nice," their mother scolded not so harshly as she walked back into the kitchen not wanting to deal with their shenanigans. Teenagers, she thought to herself.

Following his older brother upstairs, Sasuke asked, "Why did you make me walk home with her anyways?" Itachi was silent until he reached his room, stepping into it and grabbing the door handle.

"Sorry, it won't happen again," he replied bluntly, and shut the door in Sasuke's face. Sasuke flipped the closed door off and closed his own door loudly.

Now that there were no more distractions, Itachi pulled the book out of his book bag, and sat at his desk. Before reading, he stared intently at the book, taking in all of its features. Its full title was "Itachi's Story", not very fitting for a book that never mentioned that name again. It wasn't extremely long, but definitely longer than the original one he had.

Flipping it open to page one, he began to read. The story was quite intense. It was about the same boy who killed his lover, but it started around the time his father took him to see the battlegrounds of the "third great ninja war" (whatever that was) when he was four years old. Then, the story focused on his life after the war; being a prodigy in school but also being distant from the other children, and being mature for his age to begin with.

Itachi realized he could relate to this kid really well. Itachi had also been a prodigy in school and had also been distant with other people. Surprisingly, this boy in the story also seemed to know the same people Itachi knew. The boy had a younger brother, and made friends with another boy a bit older than him.

It wasn't until the boy became a "genin" did things get interesting. He was assigned a team of four consisting of himself, a young considerate girl, a haughty and prideful boy, and their teacher. As Itachi followed their adventures as a team together, he noticed that they reminded him a lot of his friends who he had met back in middle school.

The second year of middle school, in his homeroom class, Itachi was sat at a table with Shinko Inari and Tenma Izumo. Both children matched the descriptions in the book pretty well. Especially Tenma, who had been quite the bully in their first year of middle school, sometimes even tormenting Itachi. Although, over the course of the last two years in the school, the three had gotten close, and Itachi eventually considered them to be friends of his. That all ended when they had parted ways to go to high school, and although Itachi usually saw Shinko working at the Dango Shop, he never saw Tenma again.

However, the characters in the book went their separate ways in a much darker way. It all happened when they were on an escort mission when a masked man attacked them, and unfortunately killed the boy who resembled Tenma. It was uncomfortable hearing of such an event, especially when that boy made Itachi think of one of his friends. The death also took a toll on the main character, causing him to awaken his "sharingan", some sort of power that he possessed through his eyes.

Instead of reading the book further, Itachi started thinking more of his middle school friends. Although annoying at times, those two were the ones who helped him through difficult times besides Shisui and his family. And yet, they just ended it all once high school rolled around. Did their friendship mean nothing at all then? Even when Itachi visited Shinko at the Dango Shop, she never asked about Tenma and quite frankly didn't seem to care. Itachi expected her to still be in touch with him, especially when in middle school they supposedly had "romantic tension", according to some gossipers.

Itachi's eyes averted to the time on his computer. 6:00 PM. Mother is probably still making dinner since she hasn't called us down yet. I should go help her. He placed the book onto an empty part of his desk, turned off his computer, and made his way downstairs into the kitchen. Sasuke had heard his brother's footsteps, causing him to flip off his closed door, still angry from earlier.


Itachi was the first person to enter Mr. Sarutobi's literature class the next day. Izumi was the next person to arrive, sitting in her seat next to him. He looked up at her from his school laptop as she gave him a small wave. He realized that they had some...unfinished business from yesterday afternoon.

"Hey," Itachi started, "Sorry about yesterday and the whole walking home with Sasuke situation." He bowed his head slightly, trying to show her that he was being genuine.

Izumi chuckled, "It's okay! It wasn't entirely your fault anyways." She was technically right; it had been Shisui that told Sasuke to walk home with her. "I get if you have things you'd like to do after school. Although..." She paused briefly. Should I really ask him about this? Izumi thought to herself. Well, it was weird that he was acting like that at the end of the day.

Itachi broke the silence, "'Although', what?"

"Why did you offer me that bag of dango you bought the other day?" Izumi asked a different question than what she had in mind, but was still curious about. Itachi stayed silent for a few moments. Why had he given her that bag of dango? He didn't even know himself. Something just made him peak an interest in her. Was it the Uchiha necklace she wore? Or the kindness she had shown to his hardworking friend? Hell, even her prettiness?

"Well, you donated money to one of my favorite shops, and specifically one of my friends who works there," Itachi's speedy brain quickly thought of something to say before Mr. Sarutobi brought everyone's attention to the front of the class.

"Alright students, let's take attendance," the old teacher proclaimed. He went down the list of names he had, ordered by last name alphabetically. When a student's name was called they would say "hear", like always. Itachi didn't pay much attention to the names of the other students, but a certain name caught his attention.

"Tenma Izumo?" Mr. Sarutobi looked around the room to search for the teen, but when no one answered he marked his paper. Itachi had also looked around the room once Tenma's name was called, half expecting the prideful kid to yell that he was here with a determined smile on his face. Nobody said anything as Mr. Sarutobi continued on with the names.

Itachi reached over and tapped Izumi's arm, making her slightly flinch at his touch. "Tenma Izumo attended this class?" Itachi asked her under his breath.

"Yeah," she whispered in reply, "He sits right there." Izumi pointed to the desk that was directly to Itachi's left; the desk that had been unoccupied since yesterday. He couldn't believe it. Have I been blind this whole time? He was lost in deep thought, thinking of all the times Tenma was present in this very building and yet Itachi never noticed. He could've talked to him or at least waved at him in the hallways. He could've told Shinko that Tenma went to this school, and perhaps she would've transferred. But no. He never did.

Well, now Itachi had a chance to do all of that over. Next week, he decided he'd meet Tenma again and they would get with Shinko and have chaotic fun like old times. Perhaps Tenma would finally ask Shinko out because there was no doubt by now that they had (or would develop) feelings for each other. Daydreaming of the idea brought some warmth to the 16 year old's stressed heart.

Izumi on the other hand, began getting concerned as the boy next to her stared into space with an unrecognizable expression on his pretty face. She wouldn't lie, up close the guy looked pretty damn good. However, now was not the time for those thoughts. Instead, she thought of ways to cheer him up.

"I'm sure he'll be back on Monday," Izumi said. Itachi, now snapped out of his daydreaming, stared at her with a look of confusion. She tried to elaborate. "Tenma. He's been absent for the past two days." Itachi nodded.

"Did you know him?" he asked Izumi, out of mere curiosity.

"Not well," she answered, "At first he seemed obnoxious and stuck up, like a bully. But I guess he came to his senses later on." That sounded like Tenma alright. "I believe he transferred from a different school to this one, so this is the first year I have classes with him." So it wasn't entirely Itachi's fault that he hadn't met up with Tenma throughout his high school career. That put him at ease a little.

"Itachi Uchiha," Mr. Sarutobi finally got to his name, and Itachi followed with a "here".

Another name was called, "Izumi Uchiha."

"Here!" Izumi called to the teacher. Wait. Uchiha? That was her last name? But that would mean she also had a lineage that tied back to the famed Uchiha Clan. That would also explain her Uchiha pendant necklace. Itachi's mind raced.

You would have to be living under a rock if you lived in Konohagakure and didn't know about the Uchiha Clan's backstory. Basically, they had been a powerful clan in the early days of Konoha, being polite but fairly dangerous people. Although, as the years went by and Konoha began to get bigger, acquiring more clans, the Uchiha Clan slowly faded away into the background. After years of many generations, the Uchiha Clan descendants were all over the place, making the the surname Uchiha almost as popular as the surname Smith, only in Konoha though.

With this in mind, almost anybody could be an Uchiha, but there were certain traits that the Uchiha possessed. They usually had black hair and eyes, fair skin, and a cold or tough personality. Izumi looked nothing like the stereotypical Uchiha. Besides her onyx eyes, she had brown hair, and quite the cheerful personality.

Whatever the reason her surname was Uchiha, Itachi would just have to ask her about it later as Mr. Sarutobi continued on with class.


Itachi flipped another page of his book. It was late in the evening, he had finished up his homework and cleaned up after dinner, leaving continuing his book report as his last task of the day. Sasuke was probably in his room trying to find out how to silence his notifications as his friends texted him nonstop. Itachi had no idea what his mother was doing at the moment. She and Fugaku would usually have their serious talks in the kitchen at this hour, but his father was still at work.

It wasn't unusual that Fugaku would come home late from work because he was the chief at the police department, but it was a Friday night, and you would expect people to be rushing home as the weekend approaches.

Suddenly, there was a loud knocking at the front door, causing Itachi to jerk his head up. He cautiously opened the door to his room to see Sasuke also coming out of his room to check who was knocking at their house. Both boys went downstairs, stopping a few steps before the ground floor to see their mother slowly open the front door and peak her head out.

From where he was standing, Itachi could see two tall men outside with black uniforms. He could tell they were police officers, but was unsure why they would just appear out of no where at such an hour.

"Can I help you officers?" Mikoto asked the men in her calm yet serious tone.

"Does Itachi Uchiha live here?" one of them questioned. Itachi furrowed his brows, and Sasuke gave a confused glance to his older brother.

Their mother stayed calm, "Yes, why?"

"We need to take him down to the station for questioning," the officer stated.

The other officer must've noticed Mikoto's suspicious expression, so he added, "He's not in trouble, we just need to get any information we can from him for a case." Mikoto nodded and looked up at her eldest son standing on the stairs with a worried expression.

Itachi walked all the way down and put a hand on his mother's shoulder, giving her an assuring look, "Don't worry mom, I'll be fine."

She gave him a small smile back, "Okay, but be careful. I'll call your father in the meantime."

Itachi followed the police men to their car, and went with them to the police station. Waiting for them in the lobby was Fugaku.

"Don't be afraid son," his father said, keeping that straight face he always had. "Just answer their questions and then you'll get to leave."

"I'm not afraid father," Itachi said back, although he felt a tension in the atmosphere that was unsettling. He was lead to an interrogation room with a female officer already sitting at the small table.

Once Itachi sat on the other side of the table, the questions began. The woman across from him started, "Do you know why we've brought you in Itachi?" He simply shook his head. "So you weren't aware that Tenma Izumo was brutally murdered yesterday?"

Itachi's eyes widened as the words sunk into him. Tenma... murdered... just yesterday. That was impossible. He had just found out that he could meet up with his friend after so many years, and now that friend was taken away from him for good. Who would do such a crime as this? Who would take away the life of an innocent boy?

Itachi's gaze was fixed on the table, eyes wide and brow furrowed. His bangs were covering his shock filled eyes, but the interrogator still noticed his reaction. She placed a few photos in his view that featured the scene of the crime. Itachi wanted desperately to look away, but didn't as he absorbed every detail of the photos.

There was Tenma's sliced up body with ripped bloodstained clothes, lying on his back. There was a look of terror on the boy's face, his lifeless eyes staring into space. He was lying in a pool of his own dark red blood, his limbs twisted in unnatural ways. There were many wounds all over his body, but the one that stood out the most was the deep slit in his throat that seemed to nearly cut his head off.

The sight made Itachi want to throw up, but he kept his composure, and after a few minutes of silently staring at the photos he finally brought his gaze back to the interrogator. He had a straight face, but a look of sadness and anger was written all over his eyes that stared at the interrogator.

Unfazed, she continued the questions, "You were close to Tenma Izumo, correct?" Itachi nodded slowly. "Why was it that you two stopped seeing each other after middle school?"

"We went to different high schools and lost touch," he answered.

The interrogator squinted her eyes, "Did you ever feel any resentment towards Tenma for going to a different school and losing touch?"

Itachi's glare became intenser as he replied, "A little, but I soon got over it."

The interrogator returned his glare, "Once Tenma moved to your school, did you ever get back in touch with him?"

"No. I never knew he moved to my school until earlier today."

"Did you have anything against Tenma in the past?"

Itachi squinted his eyes at her, "How is this relevant to Tenma's murder?"

The interrogator raised her voice slightly, "I'm the one asking the questions here. Tell me Itachi, why is it that the day you move to Tenma's literature class, he goes missing and is later found dead in an alleyway?"

"Are you accusing me of murdering my friend?" Itachi's tone was filled with suspicion and disbelief.

"Answer the question," the interrogator prodded. The two glared deep into each other's eyes, causing more tension to build up. The door to the room suddenly swung open, Fugaku stepping inside.

"That's enough," he said sternly, "My son is in no way affiliated with this murder."

"We're just following protocol sir," the interrogator defended.

"This interrogation ends now," Fugaku ordered, and gestured for his son to follow him out of the room. Itachi gladly followed his father who looked him up and down once they were in the hallway. "Are you alright?" He nodded. "Good. That went further than what was planned, and I apologize. Go wait for me outside; we're going home."

Itachi followed his father's orders and walked down the hallway back into the lobby. However, he nearly stopped in his tracks when he saw Shinko Inari sitting in one of the lobby chairs with red puffy eyes and a wet tear stained face. The pained look on her face as the officer in front of her explained the situation made Itachi's heart hurt more than it already had been.

He pushed the doors open and leaned on the side of the building a few feet away from the door. He let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding as he stared down at his hands that slightly trembled every few seconds. A single tear escaped his right eye and trailed down his face.

Itachi wiped it off when he heard footsteps approaching. It was probably around 10:00 PM, and it was pitch black out, the only light coming from the street lamps. The footsteps were coming from the figure of a man, engulfed in the shadows of the night.

"Itachi Uchiha having a panic attack?" an elderly voice said almost accusingly. The figure who had spoken finally stepped into the dim light, letting Itachi see an old man with dark hair. He wore a light blue long sleeved shirt, black sweatpants, and what seemed to be a sling around his arm as if he had broke it. What stood out were the bandages that covered nearly half of his wrinkled face.

Itachi recognized the man. He had seen him around Leaf High, usually talking to Shisui. He assumed he was a teacher for the Seniors, but a random teacher usually doesn't approach you in the middle of the night at a police station. Itachi stood up straight, not responding to the man.

The older fellow took that as a sign to continue, "You're a talented child. Mentally, physically, perhaps even spiritually." Itachi said a quiet thank you being the polite boy he was, although his voice rasped making it almost impossible to hear. The man in front of him pulled a small white envelope out of his pocket, handing it over to him.

Itachi took, turning it over to see his own name on the back. He looked back up at the man, confused.

"The Anbu," the man explained, "It's for prodigies like you." Itachi considered it for a moment. The Anbu was some sort of club at his school, but its members were selected thoroughly. Now, he was receiving an invitation for this club that was apparently for "prodigies like himself". The man began to start walking again, and passed Itachi without looking back.

"Perhaps it could teach you to keep your composure in intense situations," he nearly insulted while walking away.

Itachi ignored his comment, and called back to him, still in a semi-quiet voice, "What's your name?"

The man looked over his shoulder back at Itachi. There was a hint of amusement in his dull eyes, yet his face stayed neutral.

"Danzo Shimura," the man replied, and swiftly walk back into the darkness of the night.


Well this took quite the dark turn..

Forgive me for taking nearly a month to write this. I usually take a shorter amount of time to do so.

Anyways, reviews would be appreciated. But thanks for reading and stay tuned.

-Sue