Chapter Text
Itachi stood without a word and quietly excused himself from the room, his little brother watching in confusion and his father calling for him to come back immediately. He glanced at the tiny Hyuga girl as he left. Her small hands were quivering, one of them squeezing her mother’s sleeve. She never looked up at the adults as they talked about her future. A future as a political puppet. As a bargaining chip for favors and power. His little brother sat, oblivious and intimidated, seeing a potential playmate sitting quietly across from him who never looked up while the surrounding adults talked about boring and essential things.
Alas, he was just another thing to be used, Itachi thought as he closed the shoji behind him. That was all they were to these people, even if they were their own children. The chess pieces being their own blood-kin was more advantageous anyway. Of course, they would fully take advantage of this opportunity. He looked up at the sky. The clouds blushed in a pink and purple haze, watching silhouettes of birds flying back to roost in the trees. He sighed as he walked down the wooden hall, passing by bowing servants who asked if he was lost and needed to be shown the way back.
“No, thank you,” he would reply with a practiced smile. “I’m going home.”
The thick wooden double doors heavily shut behind him as he left the Hyuga residence. He turned to face the tall structure, an impressive ivory tower with the Hyuga symbol proudly adorning the arch. Taking it all in, he faced his body towards the Uchiha reservation and made slow steps home.
Home. Here, Konoha was supposed to be his home too. Yet Itachi knew all too well that not too deep down, all the adults of Konoha are wary of him. Sure, he was a prodigy; he excelled in his academics. He was one of the youngest shinobi to become Jounin, even getting recruited to the Anbu. There were whispers that Danzo wanted him to join the Ne, Danzo’s personal team of highly skilled Anbu shinobi. He had earned all of this through hard work and dedication because he loved his family and village. There was always an inkling, a nag, a tug in the back of his mind.
He was not seen as an individual, a person. He was merely a tool that could be utilized for unstable peace or inevitable war. Of course, the citizens of Konoha were fearful of the latter, but the former was equally as frightening. It was just ignoring the underlying bubbles of anxiety and fury on both sides. It was just prolonging the issue, hoping it would rot away and be forgotten to the tides of time, but the higher-ups always seem to forget that grudges are not to be taken lightly. Humans are petty creatures.
And now, Itachi’s little brother and the Hyuga girl are also going to bear the grudges of their forefathers, just as he had. The adults hoping that their unity would be a sort of truce, a peace offering from the most powerful clan in Konoha and the leader of the Uchiha.
Itachi gritted his teeth in frustration. Putting gauze on the problem isn’t going to cure the disease. Everyone sees the symptoms and is choosing to ignore them. He allowed his legs to falter and put his weight on the high plaster walls of the Hyuga residence. He hit the side of his head on the wall a few times, then slid his body down onto the ground in a crouching position, his face buried in his knees.
The price of peace is just too high, and the hoops and hurdles just to get to the starting line seemed so, so far away. The entire system has to be uprooted, potentially abolished, and replaced with a new, more stable, more fair one. The Third Hokage would probably agree with this idea, but he has too many enemies within his cabinet who would want to obstruct it, particularly Danzo. He had his weasley hands on both sides and wouldn’t hesitate to massacre the oppressed Uchiha if the idea even suggested that they become more than second-class citizens.
And even if, and it was a giant IF, Danzo didn’t get in the way, there was friction within the Uchiha clan: those who want to be recognized as an official citizen of Konoha; those who want independence and become their own village with their own government; and those more minor, more radical factions who wish to take back Konoha, believing that it was their rightful land according to their true leader, the long-dead Madara Uchiha. Some kind of agreement has to be made between the Uchihas. Otherwise, they won’t even reach the drawing table with the leaders of Konoha.
Itachi pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes, wishing that they would pop to relieve the stress in his prepubescent mind. Sometimes he wished he was just a stupid child. No thought. Head empty.
God, I wish I didn ’t care about these damn people so much.
Such was the curse of his blood.
Itachi peered up at the empty street leading to the Uchiha reservation. He didn’t want to go home yet. He stared at his knees for a moment, his shadow a bit longer and darker, the sky in a peachy-orange hue. A crow’s caw echoed high above, but he wasn’t sure where it came from. He stood and dusted the bottom of his pants and turned the opposite direction toward the Konoha Academy. He needed to clear his head from all this and mentally prepare himself for his father’s long lecture once he got home. For a man who hardly speaks, he had a lot to say.
The path to the Academy was pretty straightforward. It only took about 15 leisurely minutes from the Hyuga residence. Still, Itachi decided to take the scenic route, passing by street vendors and scattered crowds of customerspurchasinglast-minute ingredients for supper or haggling a seller about making a day-old cabbage cheaper. Apparently, one man’s pitch was unfavorable, and the vendor threw a straw sandal in his face, shooing him off the premises. As the man turned to sulk away, he noticed Itachi and his face twisted with a mix of shock and fearHeimmediately forced a grin and sped away.Itachiwas used to this kind of reaction, especially from those who think they might have done wrong. He didn’t particularly enjoy being seen as a sort of “Big Brother” figure, but he couldn’t blame them as he was an Uchiha recruited into the Anbu. Whose double agent could he be? Trust was not easy to come by in his position. Even his fellow clansmen steered clear of his path more times than he would like to admit.
He stepped down the concrete stairs that led to a path following the rim of a small lake. The water reflected the blood-orange sky, the surface still with gentle undulations of fish gliding by right underneath the surface. His shadow stretched onto the grassy hill, following him as he watched frogs croak and leap from lily pads to lily pads on the water’s edge. He then stopped when he noticed another smaller shadow at the end of the path that had the stairs leading to the Academy’s playground. He recognized the figure with spiky blond hair hanging his legs off the edge of the pier, his vinyl sandals hanging dangerously off his big toes as if he were daring the fish to take a bite. It was the orphaned Uzumaki boy.
Itachi listened to the Third Hokage talk about him often as if he were his grandson, seemingly always worried for him but could never do much. As Hokage, he needed to treat all of his citizens equally and couldn’t give the boy special treatment. He was sent to an orphanage for a while. However, he had caused some kind of ruckus and was kicked out. He lives alone in an apartment not too far from the Academy, and his teacher is apparently his caretaker. Itachi could only pity the boy as he was another victim of a dysfunctional and uncaring system. Even villages as prosperous as Konoha can’t seem to handle taking care of one orphan child, he mentally scoffed.
He heard the boy sniffle and wipe his face with his shirt. If he remembered correctly, this boy is the same age as his little brother. Itachi took a deep breath, straightened himself and walked up to him with a somewhat confident stride. The blond boy finally noticed a strange older kid walking towards him. He fiercely wiped his eyes and looked away from his new guest.
Itachi put on his friendliest smile. “Are you the Uzumaki boy?” The boy snorted and crossed his arms.
“What gave it away, huh?” He replied with evident agitation. Itachi noticed that the boy had bandages and scratches down his arms and legs and one particularly nasty scrape on his knee.
“Did you get in a fight?”
“When don’t I get in one.”
“Was it for a good reason?”
“Ye—,” the boy paused, thought about it, then rephrased, “they started it.” Itachi squatted near to the boy, keeping a comfortable distance between them.
“Why did they want to fight you?” The boy went quiet, silently fuming. Itachi tried to peer into his face. “Hmm?”
After a long pause, he finally said, “You’re just going to say it’s my fault too. Say I’m the cause of all the bad things.”
“Why would I accuse you of such things?”
“Everyone knows. Everyone but me because I’m stupid.” He finally side-eyed his guest with a glare. “Apparently, you’re stupid too.”
Itachi snickered, “Maybe.” He may be the first to call him stupid unironically.Itachiliked his blunt honesty. It reminded him of Sasuke. “Let me see your knee.” The boy finally looked at him thoroughly, and Itachi got a first good look at his bright blue eyes and the lines on his cheeks that reminded him of a cat or a fox. His expression was confused and frankly guarded. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it looks pretty bad. I have some bandages and antibiotic ointment on me.” The boy glanced at his knee and grimaced at its state, reluctantly agreeing. He slowly turned his body toward the older boy and showed him his wound. Itachi smiled and unhooked the medical pack on his leg, and unrolled a small leather scroll of first-aid supplies. Before the boy could flinch at the pain of the cold, stinging ointment, the wound was cleaned and dressed within seconds. He was amazed at the speed and precision, not to mention how neatly his knee was wrapped up. Itachi was already rolling the supplies and putting them away.
“Woooooah…”
“You should probably replace the bandages before you go to bed tonight. I’m glad it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was.”
“You’re better at this than Iruka-sensei!” The boy exclaimed. “He always either makes them too tight or too loose, but he always ties them into this really ugly bow. I have to tell him it’s not a shoelace every time!” Itachi let out a loud snort and chortled into the back of his hand. He wondered if this Iruka fellow was this kid’s guardian teacher.
“You really just say whatever is on your mind, hm?”
The boy realized that he was getting too friendly with him, scrunched his eyebrows, and pressed his lips to an annoyed pout. “Y-Yeah, and what about it?”
“It’s admirable. You remind me of my little brother.”
“Who?”
“Sasuke. Sasuke Uchiha.” At this, the blond’s demeanor went from forced annoyance to genuine irritation.
“I’m SO not like him!” Itachi had to admit that he was pretty amused by the boy’s lively expressions changing on a dime so frequently. “He’s a weirdo! Super quiet, doesn’t talk to anybody. Pretty sure he doesn’t even have friends. And yet! He’s suuuuuper popular with the girls in our class! What do I need to do to get Sakura-chan to notice me and not him!” The boy flopped on the ground in frustration, his arms flailing like a fish out of water.
Itachi raised an eyebrow at this. “Quiet? Sasuke? Really?”
“Yeah, he’s really smart and stuff, but he acts all cool and dark and brooding.” Itachi tried to imagine his chatterbox of a little brother quiet and brooding, but he found it genuinely tricky.
“Brooding, huh? Can you show me how he does it?” The boy’s face lit up as if he’d been waiting all his life for someone to ask that exact question. He faced to the side toward the water and pretended to rest his elbows on an invisible desk. He knitted his fingers together and rested his chin on it, his eyes closed and lips pursed in an exaggerated frown.
“Humph. Dobe. Idiot,” he recited with a mocking tone. “I’m too cool to talk to anyone. I’m so popular, but I don’t have friends, because I’m cooooool like that. All the girls talk to me, but I just say ‘humph,’ and they all squeal. I can throw a kunai and hit my target without looking. I…uh…um…I know math.” Itachi tried to force himself to hold in another snort but couldn’t keep it in and burst out laughing. Just the thought of his chipper brother acting so edgy at school was too much, and before he could stop himself, he fell to his side, holding his stomach. The boy seemed to snicker then laugh along with him.
Ah, this, Itachi thought, this is what it feels like to be normal. Joking around with friends, laughing about stupid things, never thinking for a second that these kinds of moments are what are cherished and treasured for a lifetime. To this kid, he was just Sasuke’s older brother, not a genius Uchiha, not an Anbu recruit, not a potential hazard to Konoha or his own clansmen, not a tool. That felt nice. Even after their laughter died down to hiccups of chuckles, Itachi stayed on the ground, his lips in a solemn smile. The two children sat in relative silence for a while, just staring at the quiet water and the darkening sky. The sun was barely visible on the horizon, only leaving strokes of pink and purple as the night slowly crept overhead.
“We should probably go home,” Itachi suggested. The boy’s smile faded as he looked down at his knees, hesitantly agreeing with a slight nod. “I can walk you back if you want.” His head perked up, but he seemed unsure to take the offer.
“N-no, it’s fine. It’s not too far.”
“It’s pretty late, and I don’t want you to walk alone in the dark. Plus, it’s my duty as a Jonin to keep you safe,” Itachi said.
“You’re a Jonin?!” The boy’s blue eyes bulged out with this revelation.
“Ah, I guess we didn’t even have a proper introduction, did we? I’m Itachi Uchiha.”
The blond stood up proudly and announced, “Naruto Uzumaki!” while jabbing a thumb to his chest. “I’m going to be the next Hokage! Believe it!” At that, he gave him a wide lopsided grin, almost impish, Itachi thought.
“I didn’t realize I was in the presence of our future leader. My apologies, Hokage-sama.” He played along and got on one knee, bowing his head low as if he were actually in the Hokage’s office.
Naruto crossed his arms. “No! You’re my friend, not underling! You’re supposed to stand next to me!”
Itachi paused. “…Pardon?”
Naruto, realizing what he had just said, blushed and turned to his side. “I-if you’re OK with…being my…friend…,” he scratched his head. “I, I don’t know…I don’t have any, so I thought…maybe….” Itachi stood up and walked up to the flustered boy. Now that they were both standing, he noticed how short he actually was, probably a little taller than Sasuke (probably because of his spiky hair). He smiled at him and held out a hand.
“Of course we can be friends.” Naruto looked at the welcoming hand, carefully reached out, grasped it gently. He smiled back with a small laugh. “Alright, Hokage-sama, let’s go home.”
The two walked side by side, Naruto leading by tugging at his elders’ shirt and arm to an old apartment complex relatively close to the Academy. The sun had dipped below the horizon, only pale street lights illuminating the empty suburban streets of Konoha. Naruto had a skip in his step as he hopped up the creaking metal stairs leading up to his room.
“I’ve never had anyone besides Iruka-sensei even come near my room,” he commented. “Well, I guess Gramps sometimes does, but he always says he’s too busy.”
“You know I’m only here to drop you off,” Itachi reminded him. He was behind the boy, so he couldn’t see his expression. Somehow, he thought he saw invisible fox ears fold down sadly. He chuckled apologetically, “I’m going to get in trouble if I stay out too long.” Ah, no. He’s already in trouble for leaving in the middle of an important meeting. I should probably mentally prepare myself on the way back. The boy mumbled something under his breath as he unlocked the door. “Come again?”
“I-I said,” he said louder, “will you…hang out with me…again…?”
“Of course,” he replied without missing a beat. “Maybe next time I’ll invite Sasuke.”
“Really?!” Naruto caught himself getting too excited and coughed into his hands. “Wh-why Sasuke too?”
“Oh, I just think it’ll be really funny to see Sasuke try to be ‘cool and brooding’ in front of his classmate while being around me,” Itachi said with a sly smirk. “I also think you guys would be pretty good friends.”
“He’s not my friend!” Naruto retorted as he opened the door. “He’s my rival!”
“A rival, huh?” Itachi said, watching Naruto march into his room.
“Yeah, rival! R-Y-E-V-A-L-L!”
“Excellent spelling, Hokage-sama.”
Naruto yelled, “Shut up! Bye!” as he slammed the door closed in Itachi’s face. After a brief pause, he creaked open the door. “Sorry.” He closed the door softly this time. He heard a muffled thank you from the mail slot on the bottom of the metal door.
“We’ll meet again, Naruto.”
—-
As he made his way down the darkened path toward the Uchiha reservation, Itachi was thinking. Well, there wasn’t a day when he wasn’t, whether it be existential dread or frustration at the current state of things or just general hopelessness, but tonight was different. He was hopeful. He was planning, scheming. For the first time in a long time, he felt there might be a way to change things, for everybody, for the better. But he needed help, resources, and a lot of it. This will be a long game, a very long game, but maybe a little bit of Danzo rubbed off on him. Itachi was willing to play as long and hard as he needed.
The young Uchiha boy was actually excited to go back home for once. Before he knew it, he went from walking to a light jog, then to a full-on dash to his house where two silhouettes of his little brother and mother were waving him over, just barely illuminated by the entrance light.
Sometimes he wished he didn’t care about these damn people. But he sure as hell was glad that he did.