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“Holy hell, Itachi- where’d you get this?!”
Shisui’s dark eyes go so wide they might pop out of his head. He snatches the book out of Itachi’s hands, greedily rifling through the pages.
“There’s no way this was just laying around the library- how the hell did you get it?”
Itachi winces a bit at the profanity, then shuffles around nervously.
“Promise you won’t be mad at me?”
Shisui quirks an eyebrow.
“Eh? Guess it depends on what you did.”
Glancing over his shoulder toward Shisui’s bedroom door, Itachi makes his confession.
“I uh- I snuck into the restricted section.”
“You what now? ‘Tachi, you could get into serious trouble if you get caught doing that!”
“I didn’t though!” Itachi huffs, imperiously. “I mean- I got caught, but I didn’t get in trouble!”
“Eh?! Who caught ya? What’d they say?”
Itachi diverts his eyes again, shuffling his feet.
“Um...Danzo-sama caught me,” he mutters, bashfully.
Shisui blinks.
“...Shimura Danzo? Sandaime’s guy?”
Itachi nods.
“Holy sh- and he didn’t get pissed?”
Itachi shakes his head.
“He checked the book out for me. He said I just have to report back to him about what’s in it.”
“No way. That’s insane! There’s gotta be some sort of trick!”
Itachi shrugs off Shisui’s confusion.
“If he wanted to get me in trouble he would have. Now help me out- there’s kanji in this book I don’t understand yet.”
Shisui half-scowls, but he lets the matter drop.
“Fine, fine. Get something to write with, I guess.”
Itachi grabs a notebook and pen from Shisui’s desk, and the two of them sit on the bed.
While the older boy reads from the text, Itachi scribbles notes furiously, taking down anything he thinks might be even a little interesting. He gets lulled into a comfortable state by Shisui’s voice, drawn in by the confident way he speaks.
(Shisui is always so confident. Itachi wonders where that confidence comes from- and whether any of it will ever rub off on him.)
“You might wanna copy this diagram down,” Shisui prompts, turning the book around so Itachi can see it. “Might be helpful.”
Itachi painstakingly copies out the diagram, doing his best to capture it perfectly. Shisui nods his approval when it’s finished, then goes back to reading. He absentmindedly reaches up to toy with a stray lock of curly hair (though, really, all of Shisui’s hair could be described as ‘stray’) while he reads.
And Itachi is happy like this. With a friend to read with him, and sunshine coming through the window.
He could spend forever this way.
“Well, that’s all very impressive, Itachi-kun. Of course- I wouldn’t expect anything less from you.”
A great wave of pride swells up in Itachi’s chest at Orochimaru’s praise. He hides his blush in his pages of notes, and suppresses the urge to squirm. To be told he’s done good work from someone he admires so much is nearly too much for his little heart to handle.
“What sent you on this little project?” Orochimaru inquires, fiddling around with some dark blue fluid in a beaker.
“Danzo-sama asked me to do it,” Itachi answers, head still turned aside, rather than looking at the snake directly. “He said he’d let me borrow the book if I-”
But the sound of glass shattering gets him to turn around again in a hurry.
Orochimaru utters a string of curses under his breath, reaching blindly for a towel to mop up his bleeding hand.
Orochimaru-sama!” Itachi cries out, horrified. “What’s wrong?!”
“I’m fine,” Orochimaru snaps, gingerly picking bits of glass out of his palm.
“...did I say something wrong?”
Orochimaru shakes his head.
“No, no, Itachi-kun. You’re fine. I’m just-”
He trails off, like he’s lost the thought before he could finish it. Itachi turns his head away again, going red in the face.
“...I’m sorry,” he mumbles, despite the man’s insistence.
For a moment, Orochimaru looks like he might reply. Instead though, he performs the seal to send away the twin white snakes, cutting off their contact.
Itachi’s vision goes blurry. He quickly wipes the tears away, silently scolding himself for crying.
He crawls under his bed covers, deciding that he’d best try to get some sleep. He’ll go down to the office in the morning and take some D-rank mission to keep his mind off things. If Orochimaru decides to talk to him again, he’ll apologize for whatever he’s done wrong.
“Someone’s in a foul mood.”
Sasori doesn't need a verbal confirmation. The menacing aura bleeding off his partner is more than enough.
Orochimaru has been fuming for hours now, slamming down his books and notes with far more force than necessary. He shoots daggers at the lifeless body strapped to a steel gurney like it’s the one causing his bout of temper.
“I don’t suppose you’re gonna tell me what’s got you upset?”
“Would you care if I did?” Orochimaru hisses back.
Sasori shrugs dismissively, strolling past him to examine the fresh corpse on the gurney.
“Is it about that pet Uchiha of yours?” he asks, half-distracted.
“Is it any business of yours?”
“Only because it’d be a bother if your shit mood ruins our work.”
Orochimaru grouses under his breath, stacking his papers and books into one tall pile for the sake of venting some of this nervous energy.
Danzo. Fucking Shimura Danzo. Every time he hears that name he wants to put his fist through a wall.
And now the fucking vulture’s started circling around a new target.
If he gets his claws into someone so vulnerable, Itachi will never be able to get them out. Orochimaru knows that from experience.
He’s still so very young. Orochimaru remembers being that age, being small and gullible and impressionable. Danzo can fucking smell that on people, he’s sure of it.
For a moment, he debates telling the boy’s parents about the danger he’s putting himself in. But, Orochimaru being who he is, he’s confident that he’ll not get a friendly response if he goes that route.
Danzo on the other hand-
That might be another story.
It might be a tricky matter to get his message across without putting Itachi on the receiving end of the badger’s anger, but it’s not impossible. He has a good idea of a few iin the village that can pass his warning on- then wait to see if Danzo heeds it.
(He probably won’t. And if he doesn't- well.)
“You still with me?”
Sasori waves his hand in front of Orochimaru’s face to get his attention.
“I’m fine,” Orochimaru lies. “Say- do you mind if we take a bit of a detour on our mission tomorrow?”
“Hm? What for?”
“Oh, I just need to send a message to an old friend of mine.”
Sasori seems to accept that answer. He shrugs again.
“Alright then.”
He seems vaguely amused by the situation, the barest hint of a smirk crossing his lips. He runs a hand through his messy red hair, pulling it away from his face.
“So long as it doesn't delay us it should be fine.”
“Oh, I won’t take long,” Orochimaru assures him. “I promise you that.”
“Sensei?”
Hakuto puts his arm out, to stop Amai from leaping forward.
(they’ve shot up like weeds in the past few years. They’ll be taller than Orochimaru soon.)
“How- where did you- why did you-”
Orochimaru puts a hand up to silence the boy. He takes a quick look around the dwindling forest that thins between Konoha and Suna, and decides it’s safe to speak.
“I won’t bother with any excuses or apologies. They won’t do either of you any good.”
“...How did you find us?” Amai asks, trying not to let his surprise and betrayal show.
“It’s not difficult,” is the only answer that Orochimaru is willing to give.
Despite the cryptic reply, neither of his former students questions him any further about how he intercepted them in the middle of a mission.
Sasori folds his arms and scowls, letting Orochimaru know that he’s growing impatient.
“It might be presumptuous of me, but I was wondering if I could ask a favor of the two of you.”
The boys tilt their head in unison- a habit carried over from when the pair of them were very young.
“I don’t suppose either of you would have access to the ANBU office, do you?”
(He asks the question like he doesn't already know the answer.)
“We will after this mission!” Amai says. “This is our last mission to prove we can cut it!”
“Hm.”
“...What do you need from us?” Hakuto asks, suspicion in his eyes.
“A message passed on to Shimura, that’s all.”
“Message?”
Orochimaru nods.
“ I know what you’re doing. Watch yourself around that boy. ”
The two young men furrow their brows in unison.
“That’s all?”
“That’s everything. Except-”
Orochimaru has a fleeting moment’s hesitation before asking his next question.
“-What’s Anko been up to lately?”
The pair frowns.
“Her application got denied,” Hakuto answers. “She’s not allowed into ANBU.”
A wave of relief washes over Orochimaru.
“...That’s fine, then. That’s all I need.”
He motions to Sasori that it’s time for them to depart.
“-Wait!”
Amai fidgets with his glasses, his cheeks going bright red.
“...Will we ever see you again?” he asks, in a soft voice.
Orochimaru sighs, and forces out a low laugh.
“With some luck,” he answers.
Amai lets out a disappointed whine.
“Still so childish,” Orochimaru gently scolds. “You won’t cut it in ANBU with that attitude.”
Even with his back turned, Orochimaru knows Amai’s face has gone an even deeper shade of scarlet.
“You’ll be alright, Amai-kun. Hakuto-kun, take care of him and Anko, will you? I’ll be in touch.”
Neither boy moves to stop him or Sasori as they leave, though Orochimaru thinks he hears Amai start to sob. It tugs at his heartstrings, but he doesn't allow that to make him falter.
(He can’t help but feel the smallest bit guilty for not seeing them in so long. But it would have been far too dangerous to stay in touch, given Danzo knew full well how fond he was of his students.
It’s good though, he can’t help but think, to know for sure they’re alive and well. And that Anko is as well. That will carry him forward for a long time.)