On the Third Exam…
Itachi was not feeling well after being given the disturbing news he was given.
His medical report has probably reached the hire ups as well as the Hokage by now and soon the word will spread. A decade… even less than that until he either is forced into retirement, or the disease kills him. DCD, Decaying Chakra Disease, is a virus that can be proven fatal if not given constant treatment and overuse of Chakra. He could only catch something like that through exposure of corpses with the disease, it is the only way to catch it. Itachi wanted retirement but not like this. He made him feel so detached from the world and to his own body. An illness would do what so many enemies could not. Luckily, with proper healing, he still has time to put his ninja affairs in order before he's forced to retire.
It explained the constant coughing he was having and why he fainted earlier.
He's going to have to tell his brother and fiancé what's going on.
"Hey."
Itachi turned to see Kakashi.
"I heard what's going on."
The prodigy breathed as he knew Kakashi would want to speak with him.
"Yes, it would explain why I was under the weather." The older Uchiha tried a bit of humor, given the situation.
"How long with the council give you?" Kakashi wondered.
"Don't know… but I will probably diagnose again to get accuracy on my condition. But probably they will have me retire once I reached my limit."
They watched Sasuke, Sakura, and Naru enter the room with both scrolls, succeeding in the second part of the exam. Itachi waved at the three, filled with pride.
"You're going to have to tell them." Kakashi reminded.
"I know."
"Sasuke is going to take it hard."
"I know."
They were both silent for a moment.
"Kakashi, Orochimaru did something to my brother. I can smell his awful stench on him." He sneered as Kakashi could feel his killer's intent.
Inside the Forest…
Itachi accompanied Anko to find the snake.
"You should have killed him when you had the chance, Itachi." Anko sneered.
"I showed mercy as a sign of respect for who he was. I won't make the same mistake again. COUGH!" Itachi coughed as his chest rattled a bit.
"Are you sure you're up for taking him down? You don't look too good." Anko wondered.
"I am alright, it is just a cold. It will pass." He assured her but didn't convince himself.
It didn't take long before Orochimaru ambushed them both. As he was close to killing his former student, Anko, Itachi had him on the ropes.
"You don't look please to see me." He pointed out.
"I told you the next time I see you, I would kill you." He reminded.
"Yes, you are truly a deadly fighter. Too dangerous for me to take, but your brother… he can be quite useful."
"What did you do?" He snarled at him coldly.
"You already know."
Itachi slashed his cheek, aiming for the neck as the snake nearly evaded his attack.
"If I kill you now, then my family is safe-. COUGH! COUGH! HACK! HACK!"
Itachi was having a coughing fit as blood dripped from his lips. When he spotted it, he realized it was something bad.
"It seems you are not as strong as you used to be. I wonder… will you be around long enough to see your precious village destroyed and your brother mine?"
Before Itachi could catch him, he disappeared.
"This… this is not good." Itachi stuttered as began coughing more.
"Itachi, we need to get you to a hospital," Anki warned as she helped him out.
"My brother, Naru-."
"You can't help them like this, come on."
The two soon left as Itachi had a feeling whatever was happening to him, could end him.
"Kakashi, my time as a shinobi is cut short, but even if it is my last day, I promise you that I will see the death of that snake." He sneered.
"Right."
"Keep your eyes open. Even if you can't see him, he is often here." Itachi warned.
"Right."
The two stopped talking as the third installment of the exams would soon begin with the remaining teams. This is where things will get even harder.