I do not own Naruto.
Chapter 8
When Sakura gave birth, Sasuke was by her side. They were blessed with another daughter. Her obsidian eyes remained closed in her infancy and both parents insisted that her hefty weight came from the other's genetic material.
Uchiha Usagi, they named her.
The Rokudaime arrived at the Uchiha district not too long after her birth. He personally escorted Itachi to a hospital's labor ward so that he might meet her.
Not an hour old, a swaddled infant with pink hair was thrusted into Itachi's arms. Startled, he looked at his brother and the entirely healed Sakura. They were leaning into one another on a hospital bed, both with bated breath at the sight they were beholding.
Somewhat overwhelmed himself, Itachi said, "Sasuke was like this—sturdy."
"I knew it!" Sakura laughed, tears in her eyes.
That very night Sakura was home with her new child, self-restored from the laborious process of childbearing. She roamed the length of her upstairs home in a robe, saying sweet things to the infant. Sarada had long gone to bed, the emotions of the day having exhausted her.
The Uchiha brothers inhabited the downstairs kitchen table, as always enjoying each other's quiet presence. It was customary to share a drink with a clan member after a child was born to the family. Neither brother believed they would partake in such a thing, yet there they dwelled.
The once younger brother was nearing inebriation whilst the once older brother endeavored to consume only a sip of very strong elixir.
Itachi stared at the ochoko in his hand. The potent taste of sake indicated it was illicit contraband. The Nanadaime gifted it to his brother. It might as well have been poison, but Sasuke was immune to such things, and so it was nothing, he insisted.
"A cult following?" Itachi set his small cup aside.
"Yes," Sasuke answered. He also placed his cup down, although his was empty. It was number three. "There is a group of people who want to be induced in a mock Eternal Tsukuyomi. I'm sure you're familiar with the underground world?"
Itachi produced a slight nod. His brother could not drink more if he did not know where the tokkuri carafe was.
"'Course you are. Dumb question, so…" Though much could have changed in twenty years.
He had never seen Sasuke speak so much. Perhaps the idea of having two daughters was difficult for him.
"There are gambling games to win a chance at it. But there is a catch, depending on which version you can afford. In a single moment, you can live a lifetime in the genjutsu, but the cheaper option ages you in the real world, depending on the 'years' you spend in the illusion."
"I see."
"In five minutes," Sasuke frowned, eyes looking for something, "You could live a full life of bliss."
"Ah. They are willing." There were no victims.
"Hn. There's not much we can do. We still don't know if it's an unaccounted for sharingan."
"Why stop it?" If the fools wanted to die an early death, then there was nothing to it. Let them be. It would be their own life wasted.
"Itachi," Sasuke spoke slowly and put his head in his hands, leaning his elbows on the table, "a false life isn't a true life." This was the ethics of the last war. "There's potential danger here too. It will be monitored as long as these games continue. If it's a sharingan, then by decree I will have to intervene."
Such an illusion was dangerous, but not to an Uchiha master. Sasuke was right to be vigilant in this matter.
"Will you continue to investigate?"
"I am thinking…for now I should leave it to younger shinobi. Konoha has competent Anbu. Usagi should have me during this time in her life. This year I've been gone more than I ever have, yet the reasons for staying have grown." Sasuke met Itachi's gaze with sincere intent, face flushed with alcohol. "I want to be with my family."
"As you should," the once older brother said. "Stay. I will get you water."
Sasuke smirked and watched Itachi get up. "I've heard you've been spending a lot of time with Kakashi's kids. Do you need a break?"
Itachi released an inaudible sigh. He turned on the kitchen facet and filled a glass.
"Do you like them very much?" His brother asked it with a knowing look.
"They are," Itachi thought of Kanna and her brothers, "not so bad." At times their tactless energy was inconvenient for others, but they knew how to apologize and humble themselves. "The Rokudaime seems to be an attentive parent." He taught them well.
Swirling sake in a cup (he found the carafe under Itachi's chair), Sasuke examined the glistening ripples of liquor. Tenderness passed over his countenance at the mention of his old teacher.
"He is."
Itachi placed the glass of water before his brother and took away the carafe. "He has been a wise Hokage. The shinobi laws created to protect children are remarkable." The Rokudaime had not wavered like his predecessors in preventing the production of child soldiers or involving them in 'civil wars.'
A smile touched Sasuke's glowing face. "He became a chunin younger than you. Later, being a sensei inspired him to create safeguards for genin squads and underage chunin."
"It must have been difficult to convince the clans."
"Not as much as you might think. Kakashi has a way…of getting things done."
Itachi thought of Satomi and how the boy could manipulate circumstances to suit his needs. "His children are not so different."
Sasuke chuckled. "You do like them, to say it like that."
"Yes," he admitted. "At my current age, I am their peer. They think I am someone to gain strength from."
"That's a relief," Sasuke leaned back in the chair. "You don't know how glad that makes me." His fingers touched the glass in front of him. "I think I'll have this water now."
Time passed and with it, the garden bloomed. Its meager vegetables were harvested and distributed among visitors. As summer neared its end, the heavy rains stopped, and every child grew.
In under a month, it would be a year since Itachi's return.
On the engawa, he played the boardgame sugoroku with Sarada. She was anticipating her final year at the academy and was laying out meticulous plans of what her future would look like. She spoke about hypotheticals, which her uncle found amusing.
As she proclaimed that she would one day become the Hokage, an unknown man approached the property. He visited no further than the mouth of the field.
The object of his desire sat under her usual tree for lunch hour. A man of average height and build, he was one of the Hatake family guards, off duty. In the spring he had once come with Soota and others for drink and play.
"Who is that, jii-sama?" Sarada said, curiously surveying the faraway pair.
"I am unsure."
The man's name was Utada Kita. After a few drinks, he had become vulgar in his humor.
Kanna and the young man spoke only a few minutes. He held out a fist, stunning her. She opened a palm to receive his offering. They were too far to see what was given.
"Maybe it's a birthday present," his niece said, smiling as she made a move on the board. "That's very nice."
Itachi considered Sarada's words. "I did not know."
The child frowned at one of his moves. "Kanna-chan is here almost every day. How could jii-sama not know?"
"Hm," Itachi said, "Shall I find gifts in the trees, or on the mountainside?"
Sarada tittered. "I guess some things are better not known."
"Wise words," he said, reminding her it was her turn to roll the die.
One afternoon, Itachi sat alone on the engawa steps. His gaze appeared to be surveying the field. Though the tremors had in the spring since ceased, Itachi found little sleep the night before. What rest was achieved had been plagued with unpleasant memories.
Perhaps with time, like the trembling, the nightmares would also end.
Feeling a familiar presence, Itachi looked toward the end of the pathway. Kanna would return any moment, but it was not she who moved toward the field.
Tamashine arrived with the usual tea offerings. It was the eighth, unprompted visit. He stood to acknowledge her as she approached, and she perceived his dark expression.
A sort of pity took hold of her.
There on the field, she drew near to his person. She endeavored to lean her torso close to his and place a hand on his chest. He met her empathetic gaze evenly.
"Do not come here again," he said plainly.
The woman's eyes showed mild disappointment, but it was when she followed his line of sight that surprise filled them. There, at the mouth of the field, stood Kanna, tightly holding a brown paper bag to herself.
Tamashine exited with a polite bow.
With narrowed eyes he watched Kanna thrust groceries into the refrigerator. Her face and neck were red, but the expression was not coy. She slammed the door harder than necessary. It was not quite stomping what she was doing, but she walked with purpose to the cooking table in the middle of the room.
Itachi stood over the kitchen partition with bare feet. "What is it?"
Her lips pinched together, causing her cheeks to flare out. She continued to unpack with a heavy hand.
"If you do not answer, I will not ask again."
She shook her head, grimace deepening. "It's nothing!" She spoke louder than usual, beginning to organize nectarines in a bowl he'd no inkling he possessed.
His eyes widened when a sob escaped her. She pushed the items away from herself in frustrated embarrassment.
"I'm sorry!" she cried and gripped the edge of the wooden table, bowing her head, trying to control herself.
He was upon her, twisting her to face him. The paper bag turned over and other stone fruits rolled out of it. She gasped, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Are you ill?" He loosely gripped her upper arms. He was taken aback at their feminine circumference, never having touched her like this. He examined her features and his eyes trailed down her torso and to her naked toes. "What has you this way?"
She was flustered and wordless.
"Speak, Kanna—I cannot help you as you are." Perhaps the Hatake family was going through another one of their histrionics. Surely it had nothing to do with the tea woman. That was nothing.
He was out of his depth. Never had he entertained feminine wiles.
She bowed her head until her brow touched his chest. Itachi did not know himself capable of feeling continuous shock within such a short timeframe, and because of a young woman.
The place she touched became heated, pooling and spreading quickly throughout his abdomen. His hands tightened around her arms. This was—this was—Her fingertips curled at the hem of his shirt.
He stepped away from her. This was inappropriate. He could not comfort her in this way. He would not.
"Go home. Gather yourself." The direction of his words caused her more grief. "If you are not better, do not return tomorrow."
Something akin to fear flashed through her eyes. "What do you mean by that?" she wept, taking a shaky breath. "Why can't—"
"Whatever it is you are about to say, think on it wisely."
Her lips pinched closed again. The skin of her chin dimpled at the effort she was making to not weep. "Itachi—!" His name fell pleadingly from her lips. There was so much she wished to tell him.
"Kanna." He said in warning. The unusual force of his tone caused her shoulders to stiffen.
Her hands covered her face. "My stomach hurts," she lied. "I want to go home."
"Go."
She hurried off, leaving the kitchen a mess and her backpack in the living space.
It was with a heavy mind that he watched her depart. What was this? Confusion was not something he knew.
Impeccably timed, Sasuke appeared at the entrance of the home. Kanna had difficulty greeting him, the nervous energy causing her to repeatedly look between him and where Itachi stood. She was ousting herself. Unable to keep with pleasantries, she fled in a weepy farewell.
His brother frowned and looked at Itachi. "What's going on?"
"I do not know."
Sasuke was perplexed. "The girl was crying —"
"—there is nothing." He cut him off. But he should not have, because Sasuke's eyes broadened.
"Itachi," he began, perplexed, "that is the Rokudaime's daughter. It's Kanna."
Itachi turned and walked down the hall to the back exit. "I know it."
Sasuke kept up with his strides, out the shoji door and into the woodland. Both were barefooted. A look of intrigue blossomed on his brother's face.
"Is there something you're not telling me?"
"I said there is nothing. I am uninterested in this conversation."
There were many things Itachi refused to confess to him. It was to exempt him from unnecessary burdens—yet what was this thing. A burden, or a secret to be held closely for the sake of another.
Sasuke scoffed out a laugh. "Do you know what Kakashi will do if—."
Itachi stopped walking, agitated at the leap in assumption. "Please."
Sasuke stopped, too. Measuring his brother's seriousness, his eyes softened. "Alright, for now."
"Very well," Itachi said, unsatisfied his brother only agreed to drop the matter. It was his way of postponing.
With a boyish smirk, Sasuke said, "How about a swim?"
They left a trail of clothes behind them. Although time spent with his brother was what he most cherished, Itachi was distracted. Images of brown eyes and silver hair filled his mind.
He allowed Kanna too much reign in his life. On accident or on a whim, he accepted and even sought her kindness. Kindness which was outside the realm of her duties. Duties that, at this point in their routine, mattered little to either of them.
He had not once declined her from wiping his brow on the days he had difficulty rising out of bed. She excitedly let him study her jutsu and religiously maintained the kitchen supplies and obeyed his every direction concerning the property. She gifted him odd books and, evidently, ceramic bowls.
Kanna never questioned or tried to discuss the dynamic before, so it continued, quietly, secretly, without fuss or innuendo. It was nameless and undisturbed. Until today.
When she returned the next morning, she was puffy eyed but politely subdued. He thought of the litter of kittens.
Her sincere smile was shy. "Good morning, Itachi."
"Good morning."
She was wearing the armband with the village insignia and a chunin vest, hair pulled away from her face. "What can I help with today?"
Itachi noted there was no Anbu guard in the trees. Their appearance as of late was not consistent, at least where it concerned the oldest Hatake. Like clockwork, the shadowy detail monitored the other two.
Acknowledging her question, he admitted, "I'd like to try a new technique. I must warn you this is a powerful genjutsu that affects the physical body and the mind."
She was wide-eyed with wonder at the new proposal, grievances forgotten. "Is it going to be scary?"
He smiled lightly. "No. I hoped you could tell me what sort of things you enjoy."
"Fruits, calligraphy, books, and—and the koto!" she readily answered with renewed energy. It was not uncommon for shinobi to practice genjutsu skills with pleasant illusions on their peers.
"When would you like to start?"
She looked around the property. The garden was useless with only a select few plants growing before winter came again. There was not much to do these days and Sai's team was away on a mission.
"Now?"
"Follow me."
Black pupils split into three tomoe. The tomoe morphed into the likeness of shuriken, and finally, the weapon-like silhouette twisted into overlapping red and black triangles.
Itachi's Eternal Mangekyou expanded and curved around them.
The domain became his range of sight. Nothing was hidden. The illusion's setting was identical to the real landscape around them. He did not want her to run into a tree or trip over a rock. The goal was to see how this new power manifested for others. He needed feedback if he was to expertly wield it one day.
"I will not trespass the knowledge of your mind, only your perception on how you see the outside world."
He made the sky green and the grass blue, so she would know she was in an illusion. Between them on the ground, a wooden koto appeared. She smiled at it and sat on the grass, her legs positioned in a W.
She twiddled her right fingers at him.
He manifested three ivory plectra around her thumb, pointer and middle fingers. The plectra were used to protect fingers while plucking chords of stringed instruments.
She began a simple tune. The time he saw a musician play such an instrument, the individual was dressed in formal attire. But here Kanna was sprawled on the ground, in a bucket hat and shorts, happily stringing an old melody.
"How does it feel?" he asked.
"It feels real," she said, bright eyes on the chords. "If you're not affecting my senses, how come I can feel and hear it? The grass is different and there's something here that wasn't here before."
He walked closer to her and observed the way her hands moved. "It's my chakra."
She was bewildered. "Your chakra is in the sky?"
"No, there's a dome of my chakra surrounding us. I can create anything inside of it."
"How big?" She was either incredulous or alarmed.
"Currently, it is only five meters in a spherical circumference, but I've managed to cover three kilometers and no more."
Her lips parted slightly in shock and her fingers stopped gliding over the instrument. "That's…that's a big genjutsu."
He nodded. That was the hidden power of his Eternal Mangekyo.
Taken aback by his nonchalant reaction to such devasting power, Kanna hesitantly went back to playing. She said, "That means your chakra is making the music."
"Yes."
"How many times have you heard the koto? It's just like how it's supposed to sound when I play."
"Once."
"You…you remember every chord from hearing it once?" She stopped playing to look at him in astonishment again.
It was a rhetorical question, so he did not answer.
"Itachi," she said breathlessly, "you're amazing."
A warmth that reminded him of her ghostly cocoon passed over him. He took a step toward her and did not know where it would lead. Instead, he joined her on the ground, with the instrument between them.
"Try this," he said and lifted his hand. In it was an apple.
Kanna's expression turned curious, taking it from him. She held it to her lips. "Are you sure about this?" she asked.
He nodded, watching closely.
When she bit into the apple, it crunched and broke off as it should.
"How does it taste?"
"Hm! Good!" She took a bigger bite, and he could not help but smile. She held the fruit in front of her mouth to hide her chewing and said, "Your chakra is tastier than real apples."
Itachi shook his head. "Since I'm not interfering with your memories, what you're tasting is my experience."
"Oh," she said, considering the fruit. "You must really like apples."
"I do."
With a coquettish smile, she offered it to him. "Wanna try?"
His eyes glanced up from her lips. "No, thank you."
She shrugged and bit into the apple again, casually running her hand over the kato. When she went for another bite, the apple and kato disappeared and the world returned to normal. Itachi's eyes darkened to their natural color.
Kanna looked around. "Are we done already?"
"I wanted to ask," Itachi said, "what do you feel?"
Her eyes enlarged and she stared at him speechlessly.
His head tilted to the side, considering her. "The apple."
"O-oh, yes!" She blinked up at the sky. Calming, a thoughtful air passed over her. "It feels like I ate an apple." Her tongue slid over her teeth. "I can still taste it."
Itachi took note. "Do you feel my chakra?"
She placed a hand over her stomach. "It just feels like I ate something." She closed her eyes and concentrated. "Hm, if I focus it does feel like there's something off. Oh—it's gone." She opened her eyes. "Did you make it go away?"
"Yes. It could affect your technique, should you need to use it anytime soon."
She complimented his foresight. Her technique required a very precise amount of chakra and anything more would disable it.
An idea so brilliant suddenly took hold of her. She planted her hands on the ground between them and inclined her body toward him. Surprised at the sudden proximity, Itachi slightly leaned back.
"Let me use my jutsu in your dome!" She said it confidently.
He considered it. "That would be an interesting—"
"What are you waiting for—let's do it!"
"You are very eager. Go on."
And so she did.
At the Konoha gates, Kakashi waited for his sons to come home from a mission. Now that he was not the active Hokage, his schedule was more available. It was ironic.
He had an abundance of time to be in the lives of his children, but at present they were young adults and wanted more freedom from their father. Kanna had shed tears last week, upset with him. In her soft way, she accused him of being an overbearing parent when he rejected her innocent request to dismiss her guards.
He compromised, cutting back on her private detail when she was with Soota or Itachi. That seemed to calm her.
As if she couldn't, and hadn't, outmaneuvered Anbu with a wave of her jutsu. But at least she sought his official permission.
Really, Kakashi thought, she was distressed about something else, but refused to tell him. She chose instead to run to her mother in confidence. Try as he might, his wife Ayame would not tell him their daughter's true source of melancholy.
His sons finally approached the gates with their team. At the helm was Daiki, speeding toward his father with a grin.
"Tousan!" The scar on his face dimpled his cheek when he smiled wide like that.
Kakashi opened his arms to receive the hug. Daiki was very affectionate. Kanna and Satomi were more reserved, to the gloom of the Rokudaime (though anyone with eyes could see they were all very attached to their father. Except the youngest, who only had eyes for their mother.)
Curiously, Kakashi noticed the rest of Sai's team was surrounding a white-haired young man. He knew this boy. It was Yakushi Ryoba, Kabuto's son.
The village kept strict tabs on Orochimaru and Kabuto after the war. Although undeserved, the two had been given a sort of immunity due to their warfare aid. Like Uchiha Itachi, they had been bound to the land of their choice. Unlike Itachi's verdict, theirs was permanent.
Each great village had Black Ops members on rotation to ensure the snake sages served their sentences in full. Orochimaru chose an old lair in northern Hi no Kuni and Kabuto chose one of Konoha's hamlets, where he could take over the orphanage he had lived in as a child. That the two men had procreated was disturbing in and of itself. But Mitsuki was unlike his father, and quite tolerable to be around.
Yakushi Ryoba had not been given to Konoha, but reports said he was an obedient, well-behaved child. Sai knew this, too, and it was why the boy was untied and welcomed.
"Look who we found, Kakashi-sama!" Tsubame ran up to the previous Hokage, shooting her hands out toward Ryuba, as if presenting him on a stage.
"I see, I see," he said, smiling with his eyes.
The rest of the team approached with their guest and exchanged proper greetings. Ryoba was Satomi's age and a little bashful, unable to meet Kakashi's overt friendliness.
"What brings you to the village, Ryuba-kun?"
Many years ago, the orphanage had visited on a field trip. A few of the younger children had been adopted. It was where Tsubame had come from. She was older, so although she had not been taken in by a family, she presented talent as a shinobi and had come with a note from Kabuto that she wished to be a ward of the state to train as a kunoichi.
"Th-th-that—what I mean is—c-could we talk in private?" The boy was red in the face, looking at the ground.
Sai smiled. "He would like an audience with the Hokage."
Kakashi met the Anbu Commander's gaze with a hint of suspicion, before acknowledging the flustered young man. "Hmm. I think I have an idea of what this is about."
Satomi subtly leaned closer.
"But!" Kakashi said cheerily, startling his eavesdropping son. "We should take this conversation to the current Hokage, hm?"
The Hokage's office was filled with Sai's team, the Rokudaime and a new face. From a large desk, Naruto rose a brow. "Silver hair? Sensei, don't tell me this is another one of yours."
Unfazed by the gag, Kakashi was quick with it. "He'd have to be much older than that."
Daiki was clearly affronted. Tsubame mumbled, "So that's where Satomi gets it." The Rokudaime narrowed his gaze at his eldest son who in turn averted his.
The Nanadaime examined the young stranger. "You're Yakushi Kabuto's son, right?"
"I am." His likeness was much like his father's. He wore round glasses and his haircut was bowl shaped.
"Then I'm sorry for your loss." A few others muttered their own condolences.
The boy nodded, somber. "You must be surprised I'm here. M-my father had bad history with Konoha."
Naruto shrugged. "Sai's team has a habit of bringing stragglers into the village, so no, I'm not too surprised. And you're right to say your father was once our enemy. But you're not your father. So, what can I do for you?"
Ryuba looked around the room, clearly uncomfortable with the attention. The boy's eyes filled with tears. "I was hoping to talk with Uchiha Itachi."
Sai tutted. "That man died long ago."
His tears spilled over. "Yes, but he lives again, doesn't he?"
The room grew silent.
It was Satomi who stepped forward, defensive. "How does an outsider know that?" Sai put an arm out in front of his student. Next to them Tsubame's hands clasped around Daiki's wrist.
"Because this outsider's father was the one who brought him back to life."
Kakashi met Naruto's gaze. "At the cost of his own."
"Yes!" the boy cried, trying to hold in his sobs. He wished to look upon the eyes of the man who robbed him of a father.
Itachi and Ryuba kneeled across one another, steaming tea between them. Kanna tended to the garden outside. They could hear her soft melody through the open sliding doors.
"It seems I owe you a debt."
Ryuba smiled sadly, his youthful face focused on his teacup. "There's no need for that. It was my father who owed you."
"…"
"You must know why."
"I do not."
"You!" Ryuba started, clearly put out, but Itachi could not fathom why. "You must."
"I do not." Repetitive, emphasized statements usually worked with Kanna's brothers and helped them understand. Itachi closed his eyes as he took a sip of honeyed tea.
The Nanadaime had walked the boy onto the property and left him there. The moment Itachi laid eyes on him; he knew.
"You saved my father once. You gave him a second chance at life. He wanted to return the favor."
Pausing before another sip, Itachi set the cup down. He had saved Kabuto? No. He trapped him in Izanami's infinite loop to stop a war. It was punishment for his extremist ideals—the fact that the man had escaped the jutsu was miraculous.
It was not common for a man with endless pride to alter the misstep, no matter the torment. But even so. The genjutsu was known for its merciful escape, no matter its accomplished rarity.
"Are you here for revenge?"
The boy slammed his palms on the table, rattling the ceramic. "You're not listening! I'm here to thank you!"
"For killing your father?"
"He was already dying." He said the words gravely but clearly. It seemed Kabuto had raised his son well. Never mind that he had slammed on the furniture. "He was very sick."
So, with the little time Kabuto had left, he decided to return a self-proclaimed debt. Was this child so noble that all he wanted was to show gratitude to the man who had taken his father's last moments? Precious last moments that could have been spent with family.
"I did not ask for it," Itachi admitted. "And often I wish my reviver had abstained."
Ryuba was flabbergasted. "How could you say something like that?"
"Do you know what I am?" Itachi admonished. "If you did, you would not find what I say so offensive."
"I know more than you think."
"Then you're a fool. What did you expect? That the man your father bestowed life to be grateful? I am an unwilling subject. Now you have your answer."
"Just as my father lived with shame, he tried to live with joy."
Itachi's glare moved away from the boy. Yakushi Kabuto. He was the culprit.
The Uchiha's gaze returned to Ryuba when the boy stood. To Itachi's growing ire, the youth kowtowed, forehead touching the tatami mat.
"I hope one day you find your peace, as my father did." He straightened. "Goodbye, Uchiha-san."
Having pried using her skillset, Kanna hovered by the shoji door as the boy made his exit.
Itachi's fingers clenched around the teacup. It strained under the force. Who else would advise him to strive for peace? Did they think if peace could be found in the ocean that he would not jump in headfirst? The very thing taunted him every day.
His brother's peaceful life could easily be enviable, the serenity of nature all around was to be coveted—Kanna's very character even! Wisps of peace reached the fringes of Itachi's mind. He could see it clearly, but he could not touch it.
Kabuto ventured bringing him back to life. How dare he. Death was a mercy to someone like Itachi, yet Kabuto had taken it upon himself to interfere. Perhaps his intent had been no good deed at all, but a treacherous plan of revenge.
"I've never heard you speak that way before," said Kanna. Her voice was soft, and steady. Always steady. Always present.
He turned his glare to her. "Get out."
"He just wanted to thank you." Her eyes were troubled. "You were cruel to him."
Itachi appeared before her in a flash. He grasped her wrist and the frailty of it garnered his attention, but he dismissed it. She was unprepared for his sudden, violent nearness.
He leaned over her. "I am a cruel man."
"You are not!" she said with conviction, taking hold of his wrist, trying to pull away. But she was weak—an embarrassment to shinobi. "I know that you're not!"
His sharingan burst to life and her eyes grew wide as he leaned into her face. "You've no idea how cruel I can be."
Her history books said nothing about who Uchiha Itachi was. Konoha had blinded her generation.
Kanna pressed forward suddenly. Her intent was obvious. His sharingan spun away into widened obsidian brown. Before she could embrace him, he pushed her away. Despite the deep aversion to her assault, he controlled the force of the push so she wouldn't crash into the wall.
Her head bowed, shoulders stiff. "You let her touch you." It had been jealousy.
Her habit of eavesdropping was suddenly very annoying. "That is none of your concern."
She recoiled from the harm his words caused. She whispered, "If you can't live for yourself, live for others."
"Do you mean you?" His voice was cold and detached. The vapid anger was drawn forth from a place that had started out small and unseen. Control over its raw emergence was uninhibited. How dare Kabuto once again disturb the dead.
Kanna's head shook, straight hair swaying. "Your family."
"You advise me needlessly. They are the only reason I live."
Her soft gasp was tortured, and she met his gaze with deep concern. The words offended her. She hoped she had come to mean something to him. She hoped foolishly. This was the price she would pay.
"Whatever you think you may feel for me, put it out of your head." Her lips opened but did not speak. Itachi put a hand on the sliding door. "Leave. Do not return."