Chapter Text
Tsunade
Tsunade looked at the man in front of her.
His eyes were closed, but she had no doubt that he remained acutely aware of his surroundings. There was a warm blue glow of chakra around where her fingers were placed on his wrist, signalling the ongoing healing jutsu. He was breathing deeply and regularly, probably without problem for the first time in the past few days, and she felt a little sorry that the effect of the chakra usually wore off so quickly. With the widespread inflammation of his blood vessels, there was only so much that she could do. So far, they had managed to slow the deterioration of his health considerably, but his illness was still there, creeping on him like a persistent vengeful ghost. The lung involvement was new, yet already it seemed like he had had to struggle a lot with it.
Still, to her surprise, Tsunade found that his chakra level was relatively similar to the last time they met. She had expected it to be more depleted, but no. He certainly looked worse than he should. This morning he had shown up in clothes that fell a little loose around his body. Then again, constantly having trouble breathing would do that to a person.
The timer let out a quiet chorus of ring, interrupting her train of thought. Tsunade had set it on low volume so they wouldn’t be too startled when it went off. It was already the end of their first course of treatment for the day. She breathed in deeply; the blue glow flared, indicating one final push of chakra, then dissipated. Itachi’s eyes were still closed when she withdrew her hand, and they remained so until there was a knock on the door.
“Come in,” Tsunade said. Itachi’s eyelids lifted slowly.
As expected, it was Shizune with a tea kettle and some sweets, Tonton at her heels.
“What is this? I already said you didn’t have to do this, Shizune.” Tsunade tsked.
“It was no trouble at all, Tsunade-sama.” Shizune smiled brightly in response.
Tonton ran over and pawed at Tsunade’s legs, so she bent down to pat affectionately at her nose. Meanwhile, Itachi stood up to bow at Shizune, smoothing his sleeve down as he did so. The girl had told him he needed not be so formal, but just as she refused to take Tsunade’s suggestion, he refused to take hers. She put the tray down on the small table and turned to Tsunade so the Hokage could rub their foreheads together. Their scent mingled. Tsunade breathed her in. There was a slight note of tension in the air, no doubt from the general pressure of running a hospital. Other than that, she smelled sweet and pleasant.
Shizune moved away to pour the tea into the two cups. She smiled at Itachi.
“Have you taken your morning med, Itachi-kun?”
“I have, Shizune-san. Thank you for your concern.”
“How’s the pain? Do you need your pain med adjusted?”
“It’s still manageable, Shizune-san. Thank you.”
Tsunade scratched the back of Tonton’s head absentmindedly as she watched the exchange, feeling mildly humoured. Always the same impeccable manners, no matter who he was talking to or how long he had known the person. Uchiha Itachi is a hard man to read. If she hadn’t known who he was, perhaps she would have thought he was just a generic mild-mannered person. But he was not, and it was precisely because of his indiscriminate politeness that it was almost impossible to tell where you stood with him. His lack of pheromone only adds to his ambivalence.
A dangerous person no matter how you look at him.
“I’ll leave you guys to it.” Shizune whistled to call Tonton. The pig nuzzled Tsunade’s hand one last time before following her out of the room.
Tsunade reached out and took the cup of tea. Before she started doing these sessions with Itachi, she seldomly drank tea, but it seemed he had turned her onto it. She had always thought the flavour was too wishy washy, the preparation too time consuming, but now she understood why people went through all the trouble for good tea. Just the fragrant was enough to lift the spirit.
She blew on the surface of the liquid. The steam was nice and pleasantly warm. Cautiously, Tsunade took a sip. She hated burning her tongue, even though she could heal it within seconds. The tea, just the right temperature, filled her mouth with a gentle taste.
Forever the alcohol drinker, Tsunade made a sound one would make after having drank good sake.
“Hmm, Shizune certainly knows how to make tea.”
“Indeed,” Itachi agreed. He took a sip, and, almost subtly, glanced at the plate of mochi. Hard to read a man as he is, there were perhaps two things in this world that made him a little more transparent. Sweets, and his brother.
Tsunade hid her smile by bringing the cup of tea to her mouth. Sasuke was nowhere in sight today, which was a little strange. He never joined in, but he usually followed his big brother to the door before departing, like he wanted to make sure that it was indeed Tsunade and Tsunade alone who waited for Itachi. The brat used to always greet her with a glare until, Tsunade assumed, Itachi got involved, and he switched to politely nodding at her, albeit very slightly and very reluctantly.
Between the two brothers, Sasuke was always easier. That wasn’t to say he didn’t master his mask of indifference, but his was a far cry from Itachi’s, and, when his brother was involved, he tended to let it slip off. When Tsunade initially told them that Itachi had roughly three months left, Sasuke’s expression had very quickly changed from carefully neutral to looking like he wanted to smash something. (Tsunade knew what the something was, though, definitely the village. It was rather obvious that Itachi’s disease wouldn’t have progressed this quickly and this far had he been able to remain at the village). Only her promise of prolonging his brother’s time with treatments while she tried to find a cure seemed to calm him somewhat.
Tsunade had no doubt that Itachi was the only person standing between Sasuke and the village.
Not wanting Itachi to know what she was thinking about, Tsunade suppressed a sigh. Sasuke himself was already a problem, but he also caused problems. Not only did she have to tread carefully around him, she also had to deal with troubles popping up inside and outside in the village because of him. First, the village advisors had not given up on pressuring her to have Sasuke arrested and handed over to the torture squad. Then, on top of that, he (and to be fair, Naruto as well), constantly came up in renegotiation talks with the other villages. As a matter of fact, the one with Iwagakure starts tomorrow, and she could already tell what would be on the agenda. Sasuke and Naruto, Naruto and Sasuke. Tsunade can manage these people, provided that Sasuke behaves, but that is not a given.
Glancing at Itachi, who had finally picked up a mochi, Tsunade suddenly thought that she had never wanted anyone to stay healthy and alive more. It was an uphill battle bringing him back to the village and having him remained unpunished for now. The Hokage council had wanted him executed immediately on murder and treason charges, which was preposterous. Tsunade had known they wanted to keep the secret, well, a secret, but she was still somewhat surprised they chose to go that far. She rejected the notion, of course, but just like with Sasuke, they hadn’t given up on trying to convince her to imprison him. Between the two brothers, Itachi was the easier target. No Rinnegan, no resentment for the village, a dirty record that was already well-known among the citizens.
Their complete lack of sympathy and compassion for human life bothered her.
Out loud, Tsunade told them that any harm brought to Itachi right now would be foolish. If anyone from Konoha even laid a finger on him, Sasuke would no doubt bring the rage of the heaven down on the village. In this uncertain time, when allyship needed to be renegotiated and villages to be rebuilt, it would be smarter not to cause another incident.
Inside, she thought he had suffered enough.
She leaned back in her chair and let out the sigh.
The end of Itachi’s left eyebrow raised slightly. It was a little ironic that his face had the capacity to be so expressive.
“How troublesome. I haven’t had the time to get properly drunk in weeks,” she said.
Itachi smiled slightly.
“I’m sure the three-day talk would end before you even know it.” Tsunade chuckled. Context was almost unneeded when talking to him.
“What do you think they’re bringing to the table?” It had become somewhat of a hobby, discussing work-related affair with Itachi. Right now, he was the only person in the village who didn’t have a hidden agenda that Tsunade wasn’t aware of. His motives, for the moment anyway, were simple and pure. Keeping Konoha safe, and keeping Sasuke out of trouble. As far as it regarded those matters, she didn’t see the harm in divulging some innocuous details.
“What is your verdict, Tsunade-sama?” He politely deferred to her judgement first.
Tsunade crossed one leg over the other. “There’s a band of bandits that operates around the old Kanabi bridge area. They have grown in size lately, and also bolder in action because of the war. Their activities have been reported near the Land of Earth border.” The bridge still hadn’t yet been rebuilt properly. Coincidentally, Tsunade had thought about contacting the Land of Grass about its reconstruction recently, perhaps this was the right time. “The shinobis of Kusagakure have indicated that Iwa could deal with it however they want. Why do you think they will bring this up?”
Itachi considered the answer for a few seconds.
“There’s no point in raising the matter if they are not going to request assistance. It is not Iwa’s usual way of conducting business. But they do not necessarily need the help. Even with the rebuilding going on, they could still spare a squad to clear out the bandits. It seems they want to test Konoha’s commitment to the relationship.”
“Interesting.” Tsunade couldn’t help but laugh.
“You don’t disagree with me, Tsunade-sama, so I assume that the advisors had different ideas?”
“Oh no, they concurred. Just, you know, more ‘putting pressure on Konohagakure’ and ‘unacceptable’ than ‘it’s a collaborative campaign’.” Like how they viewed pretty much anything else. This was partially why it was fun to talk to Itachi. He perceived actions through the lens of a person who believed that, ultimately, the villages want to work together to preserve world peace. Although it made him a little naïve when it came to country-to-country diplomacy, he made up for it by being the brilliant strategist that he is.
The other reason, of course, was simply because it was stimulating to talk to someone so cunning.
Itachi only smiled. “I’m sure they only have the interest of the village in mind.”
A very standard answer, as expected.
“Alright, your turn.”
Tsunade glanced at the time. She gestured for Itachi to give her his arm. Itachi, who started rolling up the sleeve of his shirt, answered carefully: “Iwagakure suffered one of the few direct attacks from Akatsuki during the war, so, more than the other villages, they’ll want to expunge all traces of the organisation. In order to do so they’ll want to know what Akatsuki knew, what Konoha also now knows through one of its members, myself.”
Tsunade waited for him to put his arm on the table before she leaned forwards and reached for his wrist.
“This is of less important but, because of my close contact with Deidara, they’ll also probably want to know how much I know about their kinjutsu.”
“Hm. That’s a possibility.” The truth was, Suna and Kiri had already asked about her plan regarding Akatsuki, something she hadn’t told Itachi about. Seeing that he was the only surviving member, it was clear the question was rather about what she was going to do with him. A simple answer of ‘he’s cooperating’ and ‘I’m still considering a suitable punishment for him’ was enough for them, for now. She hadn’t considered that Iwa might have a more personal reason to bring him up. The blue glow of chakra started emanating from where they were touching. She continued: “Although I’m hoping they’ll prioritise the other more pressing matter.”
“Naruto and Sasuke.” Itachi replied.
“That’s right.” Tsunade chuckled. “Caused quite a ruckus, didn’t they?”
“Yes. Although it is good that they are both good kids who listen to reasons well.”
For now, Tsunade though again but did not say out loud. Instead, she said: “Well, that is true.”
Itachi stayed quiet for a while, and Tsunade thought that was the end of their conversation. Then, he lifted his head and looked at her straight in the eyes. For a brief moment, he looked like a completely different person. But just as sudden as it appeared, it disappeared so quickly that Tsunade almost thought she had imagined it.
“Actually, Hokage-sama, I have something to ask.”
She nodded to indicate that she was listening.
Outside, a crow squawked loudly.
Tsunade knitted her brows together slightly. She had feared that Itachi was a different person from what he had been showing her, and that she had perhaps been tricked all along. But the more she listened to him, the more she was reassured that was not the case. Uchiha Itachi really just wanted the best for the village and the best for his brother. He was just being careful, like he always had to be, forced to grow up too quickly, forced to be wise beyond his years too soon. Still, Tsunade didn’t feel pity nor sorry for him, because Uchiha Itachi was not a person that such emotions would be appropriate.
Tsunade thought long and hard about what promise she could make right now and keep afterwards. Itachi might be dying, but that didn’t mean that she could just carelessly say anything.
Itachi looked satisfied enough with the answer.
“Thank you, Tsunade-sama.” He said, bowing so low that the tip of his hair brushed the surface of the table.
When Itachi left, the sun had just started its journey to the west. Sasuke did not come to pick him up. But, knowing the reason now, Tsunade no longer found it strange. She watched, deep in thought, as the older Uchiha left her hospital.
Naruto
Naruto wanted ramen, no, he craved it. He hadn’t really eaten anything proper today, just thinking about the way the noodles melt in his mouth was making him salivate. He wanted to ask Iruka-sensei to go with him, too. The thought of his favourite food and his favourite person turned his heart light and his steps bouncy. Being confined to the village sucked, no matter how much Tsunade-baa-chan said that he wasn’t. Well, how should “not allowing to leave the village under any circumstance” be called then? Still, Naruto dutifully stayed within the boundaries of Konoha. He hadn’t even ventured into the forest. The current situation might not be ideal, but he knew Tsunade-baa-chan had the power to make his life way worse if he disobeyed. Plus, she’s scary when she’s angry.
A figure made him slow his step.
If it wasn’t for the hair, silky, long and midnight dark, and the slightly sharper tail of his eyes, it would’ve been virtually impossible to tell Itachi apart from Sasuke from this angle. Naruto squinted at the older shinobi, who was sitting at the outermost table of the tea shop, calmly drinking from a steaming cup. It was rare to see him out and about without Sasuke, who always tagged along like a puppy with separation anxiety. Naruto might not be the most intellectually smart shinobi in the village, but he knew an opportunity when he saw one.
Naruto hadn’t heard from Sasuke in forever. Their relationship was… not like before. He wanted to know about Sasuke’s wellbeing, but at the same time he was a little reluctant to seek his friend out. Sasuke had always shrugged him off since they returned, and after a while, it hurt enough for Naruto to stop. Plus, now that he had the acceptance he’d long wanted from the villagers, and his other friends, he also no longer felt the urge to keep clinging to Sasuke like before.
That didn’t mean that Naruto didn’t love him anymore though.
Mind made, Naruto took off running towards the tea shop.
“Itachi-nii-san.” He called, and Itachi looked up. The hair on the sides of his face swayed gently with the movement, so different from Sasuke’s coarse bamboo root hair that seemed unmoveable. Itachi’s eyes curled into two crescent moon shapes as he smiled at the approaching boy.
“Ah, if it isn’t Naruto-kun.”
Naruto hurriedly sat down on the chair in front of Itachi, making its legs clattered noisily against the floor. He grinned cheekily, put his elbows on the table and leaned forward so Itachi could bump foreheads with him. When Naruto was a kid, he made himself believe that the village was his own pack, so that he could feel like he belonged somewhere. Before he realised it, giving everyone his forehead to say hi had become a habit.
Instead of reciprocating, Itachi simply stared at him.
“What are you doing, Naruto-kun?”
“Ah, it’s just my way of greeting.” Naruto said cheerfully. Usually, people looked at him like he was weird, but Itachi’s eyes were very kind, like he simply thought Naruto was being very interesting. “It’s okay if you’re not comfortable doing it, Itachi-nii-san.”
“No, it’s not that,” Itachi chuckled. He lifted himself up off the chair a little to reach Naruto and touched Naruto’s forehead with his own very gently.
“Is that alright?”
Naruto nodded happily. As he lowered his gaze, he couldn’t help but notice the empty plate with the skewers on the table. Dango, he thought. When he looked back at Itachi, the older Uchiha was observing him, the corner of his mouth turned up slightly.
“Do you want some, Naruto-kun?”
“Could I have some?” Naruto brightly said. He hadn’t had dango in a long time, and what can be better than having it before some ramen.
“Of course.”
As Itachi turned to order more sweets, Naruto thought about what he wanted to ask. He could ask about how Sasuke was doing, but more than likely he was healthy as a clam. Or maybe he should ask how Itachi was doing? Naruto eyed him surreptitiously. He seemed a little frailer, although Naruto wasn’t sure if it was because he was no longer wearing that ridiculously big jacket like he used to or if it was something else. His collarbones peeked out from under the neck of his shirt, which seemed to be a little loose. Still, even when the ugly green undertone of his skin seemed almost permanent, there was a lighter feeling to Itachi.
Then again, could just be because his gigantic jacket was nowhere to be seen.
“So, how have you been doing, Naruto-kun?”
It was a little strange, chatting to Itachi peacefully like this, in the middle of the village with people walking by, no crows, no shurikens flying back and forth. Naruto sighed loudly and pouted.
“Fine, I guess. I’m bored. I can’t go anywhere. I haven’t seen Gaara for months. I can’t even meet Tsunade-baa-chan to ask because she’s too busy. She has someone watching over me at all time but at the end of the day I still have to check in with Kakashi-sensei. Every. Day.” Naruto collapsed onto the table. “Why doesn’t Sasuke have to go through the same ordeal?”
There it was, he hoped it wasn’t too obvious that he was fishing for an opportunity to ask about Sasuke. Itachi gave no indication of whether or not he noticed.
“I guess Tsunade-sama thought he had his hands full with me already.” Itachi shrugged with a slight smile.
Naruto blinked. There was something about the way Itachi said that. He couldn’t tell if Itachi looked unhappy just now or not, but suddenly, he began to feel a little sad.
“Are you... alright, Itachi-nii-san?”
“Of course, Naruto-kun.” There was the feeling again.
What’s his deal? Kurama finally decided to join in. I don’t like him.
Only because Itachi-nii-san is an Uchiha. Naruto replied.
So far duh, have you seen those eyes? Kurama grunted. But more than that, it seems he isn’t that upset. No, the fox sniffed audibly, he isn’t feeling much of anything at all. Should you be more upset if you’re dying?
“Dying?” Surprised, Naruto said the word out loud.
“I see that your fox friend is a straightforward guy, Naruto-kun.” Itachi chuckled. He wasn’t being mean about it, but Naruto felt his face heat up regardless. He sheepishly smiled at Itachi, who was regarding him with an airy warmth in his eyes. Naruto wondered if this was how he usually looked at Sasuke. If it was, then no wonder.
“Must be convenient having someone who can see through everything in your head huh?”
“Ah,” Naruto’s hand went to the back of his head. “Not really, he doesn’t always tell me everything, only when he’s in the mood.”
Hey, Kurama protested, don’t...
The kind lady at the shop chose that moment to bring the dango and tea to the table, and whatever Kurama said next was drowned by a loud swallowing noise.
“This one’s on the house, Naruto-kun.” The lady smiled. “Thank you for saving the village.”
“Thank you so much, miss shopkeeper.” Naruto grinned his biggest grin. He gestured at Itachi. “You know, Itachi-nii-san saved the village too.”
“Ah, really?” The kind lady looked at Itachi, uncertainty and uneasiness clear in her expression. Naruto, completely oblivious, nodded enthusiastically. He turned to Itachi and said, brightly: “Am I right, Itachi-nii-san?”
Itachi smiled back at him: “You’re too generous, Naruto-kun. My contribution was not bigger than any other Konoha shinobi’s.”
Before Naruto could say anything else, he turned to the shopkeeper: “Thank you as well, miss. But Naruto-kun is just being nice.”
“But...” Naruto frowned. He couldn’t tell exactly what just happened, but he could tell the atmosphere had shifted, and he didn’t like it. In response, his pheromone, which had been all sunny and happy since the moment he walked into the shop, turned bitter. Kurama clucked his tongue judgingly.
“Ah,” the lady, looking flustered at the possibility of having upset the hero of the village, quickly added: “I could still give you a discount for your previous order.”
Naruto unfrowned immediately. He turned to look at Itachi eagerly. The older Uchiha looked as unflappable as always, not flattered, not insulted. The smile was still on his lips, something that was neither hot nor cold.
“Naruto-kun, I’m sure miss shopkeeper has a lot of things to do, we shouldn’t keep her from her work.” He told Naruto gently. Still, the finality in his tone was clear to the lady, who hastily excused herself and then left.
Naruto watched as Itachi turned back to his tea and nonchalantly took a sip like there had been no interruption, speechless.
Huh, Kurama said.
Should I... say something? Naruto asked the fox.
No, Kurama answered, it’s clear he doesn’t want to talk about it.
Aw, you care. Naruto said teasingly. Kurama just grunted and told him to shut up, but didn’t rebuff.
Itachi put the tea down and, having noticed something, reached over and patted the back of Naruto’s hand lightly.
“There, there.” He said, and Naruto realised he had been clenching his hand into a fist. He almost didn’t feel the blunt of his fingernails digging into the calloused skin of his palm at all. At Itachi’s words, he promptly unclenched it. “Try the dango, Naruto-kun.”
Naruto took a dango skewer from the plate and immediately pushed the whole three balls in his mouth. The balls were soft and sweet, light but deliciously scented. His mood was lifted immediately. This really is the best dango shop in Konoha.
“Good?” Itachi asked him.
“Yes, thank you, nii-san.”
“No, it’s your treat, remember? I have to thank you, Naruto-kun.”
Naruto tried to smile with his cheeks all puffed out, which made him look like a very friendly chipmunk.
There was a bit of quiet as they both munched on the sweets. Naruto stealthily glanced at Itachi, who was chewing the dango slowly. He wanted to continue their conversation, but he wasn’t sure how to. Itachi-nii-san, dying. Naruto knew he was quite ill. It was one of the reasons why the village heads had used to justify their decision to halt his punishment to the villagers. But the boy didn’t expect that Itachi’s condition was that serious. No wonder Sasuke had been refusing to let his brother out of his sight. He must be out of his mind with worry.
A memory suddenly came back to Naruto. He remembered seeing them, the last two members of a once proud clan, walking down the main street of Konoha a few days after they’d all returned to the village. Everything was still a mess then. The sides of the street were almost unrecognisable with rubbles and some uprooted trees that hadn’t yet been cleared away. Still, peace was apparent. The shops were opened, and people were walking about, just living. The two Uchiha blended almost perfectly to that scenery. Sasuke was saying something while frowning grumpily, and Itachi was smiling indulgingly as he listened. The sun was casting a gentle golden warmth on the town. They belonged to this place, Naruto had thought, even after all that had happened. He had wanted to say hi, but he didn’t. He had felt like he would be intruding on them. Now he knew why.
Itachi paused. A look of surprise passed by his face very quickly, and it suddenly registered for Naruto that his own face was wet. The tears had gathered in his eyes and fell down his cheeks before he even noticed them.
“Don’t cry, Naruto-kun.” Itachi took a tissue from the box and gave it to Naruto with a small smile. It was meant to be reassuring, it was reassuring, but it just made the tears fall harder, and the snots very quickly followed.
“Itachi-nii-san.” Naruto grabbed Itachi’s hands in his, the tissue crumpled between their fingers, and sniffled. “Nii-san…” Kurama tsked, but surprisingly didn’t say anything. The shopkeeper, perhaps still scandalised from the earlier incident, didn’t come to investigate. And since they were the only customers in the shop at that moment, they were left alone.
“I’m sorry,” Naruto hiccupped. In his head, Kurama sighed very loudly and very judgingly. “I promise you.”
Itachi looked at him in stunned silence for a few moments, then he smiled. Naruto was all of a sudden reminded of a similar scenario. It seemed he and Itachi always ended up in this position because of a boy they love.
“Okay.” Itachi said, and there was light in his eyes. Kurama sighed again, louder, definitely on purpose. What have you gotten yourself into, Naruto?
Naruto was too busy finally wiping his face to answer.
“What are you doing, usuratonkachi?”
Naruto spun around.
Sasuke nonchalantly brushed the noren aside with one hand and walked into the shop, holding a piece of clothing folded neatly in his other hand. He was as familiar and wonderful as always, even when there was a slight line of tiredness under his eyes. The sight of him sent bubbles bursting in Naruto’s chest. They hadn’t met for so long. He grinned widely at his friend, who didn’t seem to share his enthusiasm, but that’s just Sasuke.
“I’m having dango with Itachi-nii-san. Join us, Sasuke.”
“No.” Sasuke answered tersely. He walked past Naruto to approach his brother without so much a glance. “Nii-san. You didn’t wear your coat again.”
“Sorry, Sasuke. I thought it wasn’t that cold.” Itachi replied. But he didn’t protest Sasuke putting the coat on for him. The younger Uchiha frowned, but very slightly, like he was dealing with a particularly difficult child.
“We should go, nii-san.” Sasuke said. “It’s getting late.”
“Alright, let me go pay first.” Itachi stood up. “You should talk to Naruto-kun. Don’t be rude.”
“Yes, nii-san.” Sasuke agreed amicably. But as Itachi went to the counter, he said nothing, didn’t even sit down. His eyes didn’t leave Itachi for one second.
Naruto didn’t say anything either. He took the chance to look at Sasuke instead. There was a heaviness that hung in the air around him, something that had never appeared before, not even when he was at his angriest, most desperate moment. It accentuated the harshness of his features, made them hard and cold.
Only when Itachi came back did the shadow lift off his face a little bit.
Naruto’s chest tightened. He thought about what Itachi had just told him.
“Were you nice to Naruto-kun?” Itachi asked. Sasuke grumbled but didn’t answer.
“That’s not polite, Sasuke.” Itachi chastised him.
Sasuke pressed his lips tightly together and didn’t say a word. Naruto raised an eyebrow.
“Hey, Sasuke, that’s not the proper way to treat your older brother.” He chimed in.
Sasuke glared at him. Any other person would have withered under his gaze, but not Naruto.
“You didn’t greet him. That’s disrespectful.” Naruto pointed out.
Sasuke looked taken aback, but very quickly, he recovered.
“It’s none of your business.” He scowled.
“Sasuke.” Itachi, of course, didn’t let that slide. Sasuke’s jaws clicked shut immediately, but not before he threw Naruto another dirty look.
“Sorry,” he said, and the word could not sound more forced.
“It’s fine.” Naruto said, feeling very generous. Itachi smiled at him.
“Thank you, Naruto-kun, for the wonderful afternoon.”
Naruto hurriedly stood up. Again, he sent the chair clattering against the floor.
“It was nothing, Itachi-nii-san. Me too.”
“Excuse us then, Naruto-kun. We’ll leave first.”
“See you, nii-san. You too, Sasuke.”
Naturally, Sasuke didn’t answer until Itachi cleared his throat. Then he gritted out a ‘bye’ before following his brother out of the shop.
Naruto watched them walk into the street that was slowly turning a gentle orange. Sasuke seemed to be saying something. He was clearly fussing over Itachi still. Naruto didn’t know what Itachi replied, but it seemed to calm his brother somewhat.
The blond boy titled his head.
I hope he could live a long, long life. Naruto said.
That’ll probably be better for all of us. Kurama agreed cryptically.
Kakashi
Generally, Kakashi didn’t dislike spying. On the contrary, he enjoyed it occasionally, when the job wasn’t too consequential.
This, he wasn’t sure how he felt.
The white-haired shinobi peered into the mounted binoculars again. The end of it was pointing at the new Yakiniku Q, where Sasuke was, totally innocently and not suspiciously at all, having a meal with Orochimaru’s other ex-lackeys. Kakashi squinted his eyes at the rowdy way the Uzumaki girl and the Kiri boy were behaving next to the quiet orange-head and Sasuke himself. He had thought that, given the choice, his most opinionated student would go with people who were different from Sakura and Naruto and more similar to himself, but it seemed that wasn’t the case. Omegas rarely picked a pack to lead on their own, usually more laid back and happy to take in whatever they were assigned. Kakashi was half surprised the Taka was even allowed to remain as a pack. He had been watching them for half the day. The other three had been dragging Sasuke shop to shop, street to street, eating, sightseeing. Despite not looking overly excited nor overly bored, Sasuke seemed to genuinely enjoy their company, which Kakashi supposed he also did with his old teammates. It was tragic that things happened the way that it did.
Kakashi did not trust Sasuke.
It was nothing personal. He did not hate or harbour any ill will towards his former student. But a child with as much anger and hatred as Sasuke could not just suddenly forget all about how he thought he had been wronged by the village and obediently settled down just like that. He should be monitored. He would have been monitored. Except his brother had made a deal with Hokage-sama to keep an eye on Sasuke himself, and one of the conditions had been to not have them spied on by Anbu.
“His trust in the village is already thin,” Itachi had said, “it would be unwise to erode it further.”
He wasn’t wrong, naturally. There were few things in the world that Itachi was ever wrong about. But, as Sasuke had actually been one of those few things, Kakashi would rather not take another chance. He sighed. It is clear to anyone with eyes that Itachi is the only person who can keep Sasuke in line, the only one whom Sasuke still listens to, well, to a certain degree. But Itachi is on borrowed time. Once it ends, Kakashi wasn’t sure that things would stay peaceful the way they all wanted it to.
He would rather Itachi doesn’t die, at least in the near future. But seeing that scenario might be unlikely to happen, he had no choice but to take matter into his own hands instead.
A tiny sound of bell chiming snapped Kakashi out of his thought. That was the alarm he had set on the street below to detect shinobi presence. Carefully, he changed the direction of the binoculars and caught sight of Itachi, clearly just fresh out of a session with Tsunade. When they first returned to the village, Sasuke stuck to Itachi’s side like gum. Now, now Kakashi often caught the older brother by himself.
It’s hard to stay by someone’s side and watch them slowly fade away without being able to do anything. Kakashi understood the feeling all too well.
The white-haired shinobi wasn’t surprised about the older Uchiha’s sudden appearance, even though this wasn’t Itachi’s usual route home. This street, which Kakashi had chosen to place his watch spot, was one of the busier streets of Konoha, for the simple reason that the most crowded places are the least suspicious. It was only natural that Itachi happened to cross it one day.
Still, it was risky, perhaps even stupid, to do any spying when Itachi was this close. Kakashi slowly retreated into the darkness of the apartment and then left the room.
The owner of the bookshop was scribbling something into her notebook. She didn’t even look up when she heard Kakashi coming down the stairs. Her hand, placed on the desk, was curled slightly into a loose fist. No one in the shop could see Kakashi right now. He quickly walked out like he had been here all along, and picked up a copy of the new Icha Icha.
“Good afternoon, Kakashi-san. Busy day?” The owner, Saki-san, asked nonchalantly.
“Good afternoon, Saki-san. I guess you could say that.” Kakashi smiled. “How’s the shop?”
“Ah, not as busy as a few days ago, but it had been fairly decent.”
Kakashi wondered how long it would take for Itachi to clear the street completely. A healthy person might take about fifteen minutes, but Itachi’s disease had slowed him down significantly. He hid it, of course, but Kakashi had been observing both him and his brother for a while.
The sound of the door opening followed by a ding ding sound from the bell hung above signalled a new customer had entered the shop. Kakashi and Saki both turned towards the entrance instinctively.
Itachi’s eyes went a little wide at the attention.
This can’t be good, Kakashi thought, now this is too big of a coincidence.
“Good afternoon, Kakashi-san, miss owner.” Itachi bowed.
“Good afternoon, Itachi-kun.” Kakashi answered. Despite the uneasiness he felt, or maybe even because of it, his body automatically responded to someone who used to be a kouhai under his wings, and the glands behind his ears released a wave of soothing pheromone.
Surprise crossed Itachi’s features and Kakashi blushed faintly under his mask. It wasn’t very proper to greet someone who wasn’t in your packs with a personal scent.
“Sorry, sorry, Itachi-kun.” Kakashi scratched the back of his head and reigned himself in. Lucky for him, the pheromone dissipated quickly once he stopped.
“No, it’s all good, Kakashi-san. I’m just not used to this coming from you.” Itachi said. When they were Anbu together, none of them were allowed to present. When Kakashi developed into an Alpha, Itachi had already left. But even as Itachi said that, he averted his eyes and glanced sideway like the little incident had made him uncomfortable.
They remained in the awkward silence for a few seconds. It was not rare for Kakashi to feel like he wanted to teleport out of a situation, but it was rare for him to also feel like he wanted to dig a hole and throw himself into it.
Kakashi cleared his throat. He wasn’t sure what he was going to say but he needed to say something, or else he might explode. It seemed like Itachi had the same idea. He beat Kakashi to it.
“What do you have there, Kakashi-san?”
Almost startled, Kakashi looked down at the book in his hand.
“Ah, this.” He brought it up so Itachi could have a proper look. “It’s the newest book in the Icha Icha series, released a few days ago.”
“Wasn’t Jiraiya-san the author?” Itachi’s eyes zoomed in on the woman on the cover, who was hugging a decidedly phallic looking lighthouse. Kakashi wondered if he was flustered by it. Somehow, Itachi always gave off a bit of a monk vibe. Kakashi caught the thought in time, however, and trampled on it. Damn, he shouldn’t think about Itachi like that just because he can’t produce pheromones.
“He was. This was ghost written from one of his manuscripts.” Kakashi explained. “It’s in his will that they’re to be continued after he’s gone.”
“I see. It is a shame.” Itachi said, and the condolences on his face seemed genuine.
Long ago, when they first met at the age of eleven and twenty, Kakashi had thought Itachi to be an expressive child. Burdened that he was, with the chip the size of a clan on his shoulder, and isolated that he was, always books and practice, there were things that always showed on his expression clear as day: his curious nature, the almost overwhelming need to learn and know, his awkwardness, the clumsiness that showed when he interacted with people, and above all, the pure, innocent love he had for his brother and his village.
Kakashi was more than aware that the man standing in front of him is a different person, but he couldn’t completely shake off the nostalgia that seeing Itachi, in Konoha, in his normal ninja garb, brought him.
He was in a sentimental mood today it seemed.
“Have you come here for something, Itachi-kun?” Shaking off the memories about the precocious child, Kakashi asked as a way to distract himself.
“Oh, that’s right.” Itachi said like it was something he just now remembered. “I was thinking about finding something light to read in the hospital waiting room.”
Kakashi knew sometimes Itachi received intravenous therapy at the hospital with Shizune instead of Tsunade. He imagined that it would be boring, sitting in an empty room watching the clock tick and waiting for the bags of IV fluid to empty.
“Do you have any recommendation, Kakashi-san?” Itachi asked.
“Ah... well...”
Ten minutes later, they walked out of the bookstore together, Itachi carrying the first two volumes of Icha Icha in his arms. He had politely refused the bag Saki-san gave him, naïvely thinking that it was for convenience, rather than the actual purpose of not letting other people know he just bought those books. Kakashi, finding the situation highly amusing, did not correct him. Itachi paid for his books then left, and the situation had seemed innocent enough. Had it been anyone else, Kakashi would have let it go. But because it was Itachi, even a slight doubt was too big a risk, so Kakashi offered to walk with him to ‘catch up’.
“Has Tsunade-sama come up with anything?” Always start with the truth. This was something Kakashi genuinely wanted to know. The longer Itachi lives, the better.
“I’m afraid not.” Itachi said. Kakashi noticed that they hadn’t walked side by side like this for a long time. Had Itachi really grown so tall?
“It is not an easy situation. With tension rising because of Sasuke and Naruto, affairs within the village to deal with and all the treaties between villages to be rediscussed, not to mention the daimyos, I’m afraid she might just have too much to deal with.”
“That so?” Kakashi looked up at the sky and sighed. Contrast to the sticky, gloomy predicament they’d all found themselves in, the season was at its most beautiful. Spring, just starting its ends, blanketed the streets with a spread of white-pink petals, while still scattered late blossoms between the sprouting leaves.
“How are you doing?” He asked.
“I’m fine.” Itachi smiled. Kakashi hadn’t expected any other answer. “Thanks to Tsunade-sama and Shizune-san, I’m feeling better than I had for a long time.”
That didn’t say much, did it.
Their short walk out of the street was uneventful, that, if Kakashi didn’t count all the subtle - and unsubtle - looks thrown at Itachi. He wondered why the Uchiha man was so well-known among the villagers. It was true that the massacre happened too recently to have faded into memories, but it wasn’t so recent that everyone would have recognised Itachi without a little ‘help’.
“I heard that the weather this year is going to be perfect for hotsprings.” He offered as a way to continue the conversation.
“Yes, Shizune-san did mention.” Left, right, left, right. “When my condition allows it, I would love to go with Sasuke.”
So, he’s too weak even for the short travel to the hotsprings. That’s certainly not good news. Kakashi thought about Sasuke. Maybe he should be keeping an even closer eye to the boy.
Kakashi kept the conversation light and casual to not arouse any suspicion, all the way to the door of apartment the Hokage had given the Uchiha brothers. He didn’t actually have the intention of escorting Itachi to the door, just away from his watch spot. But as it happened, he found it was easier to do that than making up excuses to leave halfway. He currently did not have any duty beside waiting for Naruto to report every night anyway. He was more than sure that Itachi knew that.
“Seems I’ll be leaving first, then. Thank you for the books and the company, Kakashi-san.” Itachi politely bowed to the older man.
“It was no problem at all, Itachi-kun.” Kakashi tried to muster his fliendliest smile. Behind him, a light wind started blowing, sending the fallen petals flying haphazardly into the air.
Right when Kakashi thought that maybe, just maybe, he would be able to get out of this unscathed, Itachi looked up, and the wind froze.
This boy, no, man, really shouldn’t be underestimated in any sense of the word, not even when he got one foot in the grave.
Kakashi sighed.
What a mess of polarities Uchiha Itachi is.
“Oh well,” he thrusted his hands into his pockets and watched as Itachi closed the door. “Guess I’ll have more things to think about tonight.”
He should invite Naruto to ramen when he came to check on the boy tonight. It always served to cheer them up well.
But seriously, it would be nice if Itachi just... doesn't die.