Author's Note:
This chapter took me a while mostly because I had to do a deep dive of some on the characters which were not in the original sketch. After doing a review of the events during and after the Fourth Shinobi war it became all too clear that these guys were meant to make an appearance.
You'll know who I'm referring to soon enough. Please enjoy "Unfinished Business"
...
5th of December (four months ago)
.
"Remember me?"
It was a simple interrogative question consisting of two elementary-level words. The only possible answer to this inquiry was sitting at the tip of his tongue. There was no way he could forget his best friend Shisui. It was their shared belief of maintaining peace for the majority at all costs that shaped his notoriety and the trajectory of his short life. The fact that he was even asking was ridiculous.
"But you're dead."
He wanted to answer his silly questions but he had a thousand thoughts blasting in his mind all at the same time. One of them finally slipped out of his lips. His voice sounded scratchy from the lack of use.
"So were you buddy," he replied. The green glow from his palms disappeared and he grabbed a black robe from behind, placing the warm material over the back of the shivering Itachi. "And we will have that conversation soon enough but first let's get you warm and cleaned up."
Shisui grabbed him by his arms and helped him to his feet, giving him space so he could dress himself. Itachi looked down at him. He was taller than his cousin now. He realized that despite not seeing him for over a decade, the supposedly older Uchiha had not aged one bit. It was an observation that added noise to his already crowded brain.
Shisui must have read his thoughts because he chuckled. "Looking good old man-"
His smile vanished mid joke when Itachi's gaze landed at something, or rather someone, behind him. In a drop of a hat, his look of wonder vanished and was replaced by the look of someone who was out for blood. His dark irises bled red and the three tomoe of his Sharingan appeared. Shisui was quick. But this Itachi was quicker. He slipped out of his grasp and was flying straight to the other end of the laboraty where Orochimaru stood by the entrance. The shinobi's eyes widened and his vertical pupils grew round. Itachi's fingertips grazed his neck before a powerful force stopped him abruptly mid-jump. It knocked the breath out of him and he was suspended in the air. He looked down and saw bright yellow chains wrapped around all of his limbs as well as his torso and neck. They felt cool and prickly against his skin. And whatever it was made of, it neutralized his chakra enough to subdue his Sharingan.
"Karin let him go!" Shisui shouted.
A young woman sauntered into the room. Her crimson gaze was locked on the man who was being suspended by the very chains which appeared from her own torso.
"I told you Orochimaru-sama. It's not safe for you to be around the subject until he has been equilibrated."
Itachi narrowed his eyes at her. "I remember you. You worked with Sasuke."
"Correct."
"Interesting," Orochimaru murmured. "That's three instances now where you've demonstrated that your past memories remain intact."
"I thought that was obvious the second he went for your neck, muscle memory and all." Shisui walked over to the trio in an attempt to calm his newly conscious cousin down. He remembered the first time he was let out of the recovery tank merely a year ago. It was one of the most confusing and terrifying moments that he could recall. And a terrified Itachi was volatile.
"Itachi, you need to believe me when I say that they're here to help. Calm down," he said before turning to Karin. "And for Kami's sake put him down."
"Do what he says," Orochimaru ordered.
The redhead sighed before slowly setting Itachi down on the cold tiled floor. He shivered at the contact.
"Adamantine Chains," he whispered as an afterthought.
"Correct again," she replied. "And I'm not afraid to use it once you decide to do something stupid. If you're anything like your brother I'll give it a day or two."
He didn't miss the way her eyes raked down his exposed torso before proceeding to stare holes at the piece of cloth that was haphazardly tied around his waist, the only thing which fixed the robe long enough to allow him to maintain his dignity. He raised an eyebrow at her which earned him a smirk.
"Shisui will guide you to your quarters. Perhaps a warm shower could help you cope with the mental inertia most subjects seem to experience the first few moments after they wake up."
Shisui gestured for Itachi to follow him out of the freezing cold room but he refused. Instead he took a couple of steps until he was inches away in front of Orochimaru.
"What the hell have you done to me?" His voice sounded low with anger. This time the older shinobi was able to maintain his composure. His face remained neutral, giving away nothing.
"Get yourself equilibrated and I'll tell you everything." Then after a long pause he added, "I'm not the enemy Itachi-kun."
He wasn't in his old body. He figured that much a few seconds after breaking out of his recovery tank. His vision had not been this good in years without activating the Sharingan. It was so good that he easily managed to make out Orochimaru's slimy features from a distance. The pressurized shower beat the down the back of his neck as he looked down at his hands. They were definitely his. And yet not exactly. Every crease on his kunckles and palms and every whorl on his fingerpads looked the same. But they didn't have the scars at the back of his hands or the callouses on his palms from the two decades of intensive training he had undergone. The same could be said for the rest of his body. Every mark and scar he remembered had disappeared. He looked over at his left arm where he was certain a swirling tattoo he got during his days in the ANBU should be on. There was nothing there but smooth alabaster skin. He brought his right forearm closer to his face, eyeing the spots where Sasuke's fireballs had caught him during their last fight. Those burns had been extensive and were certain to leave marks had he been given the chance to heal. Nothing. He was blemish-free in all areas save for one. He traced the vertical scar running down the length of his sternum. It was so narrow and faint that he barely noticed it earlier.
They knew.
He tilted his head up, allowing the warm water to run down his face one last time before stepping out of the shower stall.
Even while he towelled himself dry his mind refused to stop its quest of finding out what he really was. He moved his arms and legs one way and then the other. He put on his undergarments and then his trousers and hopped from one leg to the next, first from side to side then on top of the bureau at the corner of his personal quarters around two yards away. Easy. He jumped again while simultaneously flinging his legs upwards until the sole of his feet touched the ceiling. He barely had to concentrate to allow chakra to flow on his feet and he stayed rooted upside down. Effortless. He channeled the flow of his chakra away from his lower limbs and he began to fall, twisting his body mid-air until he landed quietly right side up. He was certain he could do that in his sleep. His eyes landed on his reflection in the full length mirror in front of him. His lanky form stared back.
A knock on the door pulled him out of his thoughts.
"Are you decent?" Shisui called out. "As much as I missed you I do NOT want to see your ass for the second time today."
"What's wrong with my ass?" he deadpanned.
Shisui chuckled as he opened the door and waltzed inside the quarters. Itachi stood in the middle of the room, arms around his bare chest and his long knotted hair falling over his face. The small smirk on his lips made him look all the more unhinged.
"I thought Suigetsu was exaggerating when he said i looked crazy for the first two weeks after breaking out of the tank," Shisui said as he gave his cousin a once-over. "Seeing you now, I think he might be right."
"Shisui...is that really you?"
It wasn't Itachi's question that caught him off guard but the way he asked it. He sounded suspicious and weary. While this could most likely be from the years he spent with the Black Ops and the Akatsuki right after, Shisui had never been on the receiving end of his doubts. It felt heavy.
He sighed as his right hand scratched the back of his neck.
"Yes. The one and only. But you already knew that didn't you? Otherwise you wouldn't be asking, you'd be fighting." When Itachi remained quiet he added, "I won't hold your suspicions against you. For years you've walked a long and dark path alone. It's going to take a while to unlearn those habits you've picked up out of necessity."
He took the shirt that was on the bed. It was plain black with short sleeves and a high collar. If it wasn't for the missing uchiwa on the back he would think that Karin had simply went through teenage Itachi's old drawer and pulled out the first item she saw. He threw the shirt at his cousin who caught it with one hand.
"We have a long day of talking ahead of us. So get dressed. And comb your damn hair."
"Alright genius. Tell me what you've figured out so far."
Shisui and Itachi were inside one of the study rooms of Orochimaru's laboratory. This one was bare with floors, walls and ceilings painted a harsh white. Even the long table and the plastic chairs they sat on had the same sterile and uninviting hue. A lone flourescent tube in the middle of the ceiling lit up the entire room.
"I'm not here because of the Edo Tensei. That jutsu had been used on me during the war so I'll be able to tell if that was the case."
Shisui nodded, remembering Orochimaru's long and tedious update on the current world events from a year ago. "Go on," he urged.
Itachi looked down on himself. "I feel like this is my body. But it can't be. My scars are gone. My vision is restored."
"You're no longer blind as a bat eh? Cool."
"Which leads me to believe that I've been cloned." He locked eyes with Shisui. "So were you."
"It feels strange hearing you say it out loud but yeah."
"I'm surprised Orochimaru got hold of your DNA. I was certain the Naka River took all of you away."
"So did I. But Kabuto managed to secure the goods. He even asked Obito who was pretending to be Madara if he could use the Edo Tensei on me. Probably around the same time he brought you back. He said no."
"How rude."
"He probably knew he'd be taking a huge gamble on people like you." Shisui bit his lip before continuing. "Orochimaru and his goons had come a long way with their cloning methods. We came out of that stinkhole in the same biological age we were on the day we died. He preserved the muscle tone and neural circuits of his subjects which means as soon as they wake up, they will be starting where they left off. No rehabilitation and only minimal retraining needed. The only thing he couldn't eliminate just yet are congenital anomalies."
Onyx met onyx. Shisui nearly got into a fist fight with Suigetsu when the former Kiri-nin started cussing him about how he was wasting their time and resources by trying to bring back a subject with a 'ventricular septal defect among other things'. He had been so convinced it was a methodology flaw that Orochimaru himself stepped in and confirmed it was indeed congenital. Even the older shinobi was shocked.
"How long have you known?"
"For as long as I can remember," Itachi admitted. A mixture of hurt and annoyance flashed across Shisui's face.
"Kami. And you just let me string you along all those misadventures with the ANBU when you were eight?!"
"That is exactly why I told no one. Neither did my parents."
"And Sasuke?"
Itachi shook his head. "He didn't know. Not until the end at least." He looked at Shisui as the latter ran a hand through his messy waves.
"No matter," he replied. "It won't be a problem from now on. Karin's Uzumaki cells succeeded where no medic-nin could. The fact that you share the same blood type and that she's obsessed with your otouto played well into your favor."
"..."
There was a long pause as the cousins tried to get their bearings. It had been a long day despite the clock only reading twelve noon. Shisui was still reeling from the fact that after thirteen long years he finally had his best friend back, the only other member of the Uchiha clan who shared his ideologies when it came to shinobi politics. And also, if he recalled correctly, one of the very few people he could be himself with. It was why he couldn't deny the disappointment he felt when he found out that Itachi had hidden his condition from him. Just because he understood his reasons did not mean that he is not vexed about it.
"You've mentioned earlier that Orochimaru had kept you updated," Itachi said, eyes boring holes on the table's surface.
"He did...from the events that happened after my death to the more recent ones." Shisui could see the creases on his cousin's forehead deepening.
"Shisui..."
"The clan members made their decision and we made ours," he replied quickly. "I hope you don't assume that I think less of you for protecting Konoha's peace. Not once have you faltered from your path no matter how dark it became. You kept your vow even in death. I will always admire you for that."
Itachi wasn't sure what he was expecting but it wasn't that. Nevertheless the sigh of relief that escaped him had been visible albeit quiet. Shisui shifted forward from where he sat at the head of the table and patted him twice at the side of the head. It was an odd sight to see, a seventeen-year old patting a twenty-one year old like he was his otouto. But it couldn't be nearer from the truth.
"There's nobody else I trusted with the Uchiha name but you. My only regret is that you had to shoulder that massive responsibility alone. Must have been tough."
"Impossible."
"Well shit." The duo chuckled at each other.
"It's good to have you back."
The cousins had been catching up for a solid hour when the door opened. Orochimaru entered first followed by Karin and then Suigetsu. The young man eyed Itachi warily before waving tentatively at the two.
"Itachi-kun," Orochimaru started with a bow. "It looks like Shisui-kun has done a good job in helping you acclimate."
Itachi's reply was a scowl that made the temperature in the room drop by a few degrees.
"Oh there it is!" Suigetsu exclaimed. "I see the resemblance between him and Sasuke now."
"Shut your mouth!" Karin shot back before giving Itachi another once-over.
"That's the fifth time you've ogled him. You seriously don't see-?"
"-Suigetsu I swear to Kami-!"
"-Is there a meeting happening that I'm not aware about?" Itachi drawled. His eyes haven't left Orochimaru. Despite what Shisui had said about him, his still felt on edge around him. His fingers tingled, ready to strike at a moment's notice.
Orochimaru took the seat at the other end of the table. Suigetsu took the seat beside Itachi while Karin took the seat in front of him.
"I won't take up much of your time so let me get straight to the point," Orochimaru started. "The reputation of the Uchiha clan may have been tainted by the actions of a bunch of its knucklehead members but it is in essence a truly noble and formidable clan. It would be a great shame to let it die out, especially if there are means to prevent it from happening. Now you're probably wondering, what about Sasuke-kun? Didn't he just have a daughter with Sakura-chan? Yes he did. And while that's great news, that little girl won't be old enough to fight for many years. I believe troubles are brewing just around the corner and they will arrive sooner than most people think. Sasuke-kun knows this. He could feel it in his bones even if he couldn't pinpoint the specifics just yet. That's why he is often doing missions outside of Konoha, gathering intel and protecting his precious village from the shadows the same way his aniki has done many years ago." To this he gave Itachi a pointed look.
"Are you undermining the shinobi of Konohagakure?" he replied.
"Not at all. Sasuke-kun is strong. So is Naruto-kun and many other shinobi. Still, a kekkei genkai as powerful as the Sharingan can become an essential asset in maitaining the era of peace that Naruto's victory had created, not just for Konoha but for all nations and hidden villages. I want that peace to last. The jonin keeping a close eye on me might disagree with this but I mean that. Everyone is keen on celebrating. Not everyone wants to see this victory for what it really is...a temporary ceasefire precariously balanced on a knife's edge. Anything could set it off. We've learned that from the previous wars. When that time comes we need people who are smart enough to do the right thing and strong enough to see things through. You two fit the bill."
"It looks like we agree on something for the first time," Itachi replied. "Will I simply have to believe that that's all there is to it?" He met Orochimaru's steady gaze with a practiced glare. "World peace and nothing else."
Orochimaru smiled and let his sharp tongue run across the edges of his teeth.
"Itachi-kun I've seen what you are capable of. You were a precocious child, easily capable of feats that even the highest ranking ANBU members struggled to achieve. You've grown exponentially in intellect and strength since then. And you Shisui-kun showed the same promise. Do you really expect me to leave your genetic make-up, both capable of giving its owners abilities that could catapult them to the title of Kage, locked up in a freezer while the world ticks like a timebomb?"