Foreboding
“You needed to see me, Danzo-sama?”
Itachi bows low, focusing his eyes on the clock on the wall right behind the man, to avoid having to look him in the eye. Danzo’s eye bores into him, peering over his paperwork with that hawkish gaze that never fails to make Itachi squirm inside.
“I did, as a matter of fact.”
Itachi straightens out, waiting intently for the reason he’s been called.
“The office received your application to join Anbu.”
Itachi nods.
“Shisui-nii and I were invited to apply, so we did.”
Danzo’s mouth twitches in what might charitably be called a smile.
“I’m pleased. I wondered whether you would take the invitation.”
“I want to be wherever the village needs me,” Itachi answers.
That prompts an expression more akin to a proper smile.
“I expected nothing less from you, Itachi. And that’s exactly what I’m here to discuss.”
Itachi nods.
“Yes, Danzo-sama?”
“We have a mission for you, to prove you’re ready to become an Anbu operative.”
“Oh?”
“We’ve been hosting Shimo’s ambassador here the past few days. He’ll be heading back soon, and if you don’t mind it I’d like you to escort him home.”
“Eh? Is that all?”
“Once you get to know him a bit, you’ll see why we didn’t want to entrust this to just anyone. And besides-”
Danzo leans forward, resting his chin on the back of his hand.
“-I’ve heard that you’re interested in being Hokage one day, aren’t you?”
“I- uh, I mean-”
Who told you?! Itachi wants to cry out, but he’s already blushing and that would only make it worse.
“...Yeah,” he mumbles, instead.
“Well, if that’s really your ambition, there’s a lot of diplomatic work that goes into being Hokage. You’ll want to make those connections as early as you can- this seems as good a place as any to start, doesn't it? This is the sort of thing that could serve you well in the future.”
Itachi takes a moment to digest those words.
It certainly makes enough sense. So, finally, he nods.
“Alright, I’ll do it.”
“Perfect.”
Danzo hands over a folder containing a handful of papers.
“Make sure you read this before you leave tomorrow morning.”
Again, Itachi nods, bowing again.
“I’ll do my best.”
“I expect nothing less from you. You’re dismissed- I'll be speaking with you when you return."
Itachi tucks the folder under his arm, bowing low before leaving Danzo’s office. He fills out the necessary paperwork at the front desk, handing them over to the middle aged woman manning the desk and turning to leave-
“-Oh hey, ‘Tachi!”
“Sh-Shisui-nii-”
“Did I sneak up on ya?”
“No!” Itachi lies, with a halfhearted scowl.
“Heh, whatever you say, bud. You got your mission call too?”
“Yeah. I’m heading out tomorrow.”
“Same- I guess next time we’ll see each other is when we get our tattoos, huh?”
Itachi frowns.
“I guess so.”
Shisui hands his paperwork in too, grinning from ear to ear.
“Oh hey look at that! Maybe it won’t be that long!”
The lady at the desk snatches all the papers away, noticing Shisui spotted some of Itachi’s.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re headed to Shimo- I’m supposed to be meeting a contact there- maybe I’ll see ya there!”
Itachi nods, trailing out after Shisui anxiously. His heart flutters in his chest, ears ringing, head buzzing with a thousand thoughts at once.
“Why the long face, Tachi?”
“...Just nervous. That’s all.”
Shisui shrugs.
“I am too, a little bit. But it’ll be fine, yeah?”
He holds his arms out to offer a hug, which Itachi accepts for three seconds before pulling away.
“See ya soon!”
Itachi waves over his shoulder, before heading home to prepare.
Itachi wakes before his alarm, and well before sunrise.
Not that he’s slept much to begin with. Not after his talk with his parents mere hours before.
He showers under ice cold water to wake up properly, dresses in a haste, then hurries to brush his teeth and throw his half-dry hair back.
Pausing at the doorway, Itachi debates calling Orochimaru to tell him where he’s headed. Eventually though, he decides against it. Grabbing his mission bag, he heads to the kitchen to get a glass of water before he leaves.
He spies the pot of the rice cooker laying in the sink, and frowns. He turns around and leaps a half foot in the air when he sees Sasuke fast asleep at the kitchen table.
Right next to his head is a clumsily yet immaculately wrapped bento, next to a hastily scrawled note.
Hi Niisan,
I wanted to stay awake ‘til you left, but just in case I don’t make it- good luck on your mission! I packed you lunch so you have something good to eat while you’re away! Do your best, and come home soon!
Warmth fills up Itachi’s chest, and he smiles fondly at his little brother. Tucking the note into his pocket, he grabs the bento and downs a glass of water before emerging into the cool air of early morning.
He brushes his fingertips against the gate as he exits his clan’s compound, draws one last deep breath, and sets off properly.
The streets are mostly deserted, but for a handful of street sweepers a couple shop owners getting ready for the day. Other than that, the only other living things about are the earliest of birds, and a few crickets chirping.
As he approaches the hotel where he’ll be meeting his charges, he mulls over the personal information he’s received repeatedly, so he doesn't embarrass himself by forgetting.
Futamo Kasou, fifty-four years old. Graduated from Shimo’s shinobi academy at eleven, but retired from shinobi work at thirty-four to become Shimogakure’s sole ambassador to the rest of the shinobi world. Married to Futamo Fuchuina for thirty years.
Twin sons, Haruma and Natsuma. Natsuma died in the last war- or was that Haruma-
Damn it. Why couldn’t Shisui have taken this mission, and Itachi could handle the intel gathering? Shisui is way better at this people stuff than he is-
-Ah well. Too late to back down now.
He waits in the lobby like he was told. Fidgeting a bit, he tries his best to compose himself.
His heart picks up twice its normal speed when he hears movement in the lobby, followed by a voice.
“I suppose you’ll be my escort today huh?”
Itachi scrambles to his feet, bowing deep at the man before him and his two friends, stumbling through a greeting.
“Y-yes. My name’s Uchiha Itachi, and Danzo-sama has entrusted me to return you to Shimogakure. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Kasou-sama.”
The three older men laugh. Itachi feels his face grow hot.
“Is everyone in this village so formal? Knock off that Kasou-sama nonsense, boy!”
Itachi jolts when the man claps him on the back, then wraps an arm around his shoulders in an awkward sort of half-hug.
“I don’t remember ever being this small!” Kasou declares, and his friends start laughing. “Must be somethin’ in the water here in Konoha!”
White hot humiliation burns Itachi alive from the inside out. Kasou tousles his hair, making Itachi bristle with the indignity of it all.
“Aw you’re embarrassing the poor kid, ‘Sou! Be nice!”
“I am being nice!”
Why couldn’t Shisui-nii have gotten this mission instead? Itachi whines to himself. Shisui would never get this embarrassed by something as stupid as teasing.
“Well, let’s be going!” Kasou urges, giving Itachi a playful push forward. “You wanna get us back on time, right?”
“...Right.”
Itachi manages to not humiliate himself for the next few hours. Kasou and companions keep trying to engage him in smalltalk, but Itachi can’t find a way to respond without making an ass of himself.
(Not that he’s really avoiding that particular pitfall by refusing to speak, but…)
They’re a good thirty kilometers into their trip when they decide to stop for lunch.
Itachi unwraps the bento Sasuke prepared for him, popping the lid off-
And finding a haphazard mush of overcooked rice, far too much furikake, and a clumsily sliced tomato arranged into what Itachi assumes is supposed to be their family crest on top.
He can’t help it; he bursts out laughing.
“Eh? What’s funny?”
Itachi holds up the bento, eyes burning with tears as the laughter won’t stop coming.
“-My brother,” he finally manages. “This is his idea of lunch.”
Kasou snorts.
“You’re not gonna eat that, are you?”
“Of course I am! My brother made it for me!”
To prove his point, Itachi pulls out his chopsticks and shoves some of the overcooked rice in his mouth.
It’s totally unseasoned besides the furikake, horribly mushy and Itachi fights against the urge to gag when he forces himself to swallow. But Sasuke made this for him, so bit by bit he chokes down the entire thing. Kasou and his friends watch the entire time in a sort of disgusted awe.
“He’s not even around to know if you really ate it, but you’re still doing it- you must be real fond of that brother of yours, huh?”
Itachi nods, forcing back the last bit of food.
“Well why doncha talk about him? You’ve been so quiet this whole time!”
“Eh? I mean-”
Itachi scratches his cheek, glancing around anxiously.
“-He’s six years old, and he’ll be starting at the Academy while I’m gone.”
“Ah, so he’s just a lil’ one. I remember when my boys were that age!”
“Hey Kas, didn’t your boys try makin’ you a bento once?”
“Oh yeah! Except they filled it up with candy and the daifuku Fuchu made for their birthday!”
The three men guffaw at the memory.
“I wouldn’t have minded a lunchbox full of candy.”
Itachi is acutely aware that he’s being stared at now, and squirms internally.
“I mean- sweet stuff is nice, so I wouldn’t mind just having that for lunch-”
“Oh? So you’ve got a bit of a sweet tooth, then?”
“I guess so? I mean, daifuku is great, so that’d be nice to have in a bento. Melonpan might be even better- or maybe if you put the sauce separately you could even put dango in a lunchbox and it’d still be good-”
Itachi cuts himself off, realizing he’s started rambling about sweets.
“...Sorry,” he mumbles. “I’ll just-”
“What’re you apologizing for?”
Itachi yelps when Kasou wraps an arm around him, crushing Itachi against him in a thoroughly awkward half hug.
“So Konoha kids do get to just be kids sometimes! I didn’t know that was possible!”
Itachi keeps his eyes fixed on the inside of his now-empty bento, wondering if he might burst into flames from how warm his face is growing.
“Man, the people Shimura usually sends us off with are so stiff and serious, I was worried you’d be another one of those!”
Itachi suppresses his urge to squirm away from this man, forcing a nervous laugh out of his throat.
Danzo-sama is right, after all. If he’s gonna be Hokage he’ll have to work with these guys already, right? So he might as well make sure his first impression is a good one.
“We should get going again,” he suggests. “So you can get back to your wife and your son, right?”
“Eh, you’re right. Natsu will be back in a few days anyway- better be there by then!”
Ah, so Natsuma is the surviving one-
Itachi repeats that over and over in his head, so he doesn't forget it again. At the same time he shoves back the increasing sense of dread welling up in his guts for some indiscernible reason.
“Didn’t you say you were going to bed like, three hours ago?”
Orochimaru growls, shooting Sasori a dirty look from over his shoulder.
He had, of course. It’s well past what any sane person would call an ungodly hour, and he had gone to bed- for about thirty minutes.
But just as he’d been about to nod off, he was jolted back to full consciousness. His heart hasn’t stopped racing since then, his mind screeching at him that something is wrong. He hasn’t been able to shake that premonition in the hours since.
Sasori goes back to fixing Hiruko’s scorpion tail, with an annoyed huff.
“Our little friend won’t be back until sunrise- is that what’s got you wound up?”
“That’s not what I’m…”
He trails off, deciding his sudden bout of anxiety is none of Sasori’s concern. So he gets up to make a strong cup of tea instead, using the hotplate provided in their otherwise barren hotel room.
They’re supposed to wait here til Kabuto gets back with intel in four hours. Then they’ll take off for Taki to take out the target they’re getting paid to handle. Easy enough.
So why is he so wound up?
He goes through the notes he’s brought with him, but there’s nothing there that he didn’t already know. He repeats the itinerary in his head until the words start to lose their meaning.
He checks in on his students, who are all on separate missions to different parts of the world. And then there’s Itachi, headed toward Shimogakure. He seems to be moving pretty slowly, but Orochimaru tries not to dwell on that too much.
For now.
And yet, it’s not until they finally meet up with Kabuto that he realizes what’s got him on edge.
Sasori quickly grew bored with the discussion and wandered off, mumbling to himself about things Orochimaru can’t hear and doesn't care to.
Kabuto looks offended, head bowed, grumbling in displeasure.
“-I doubt he even cares whether I’m actually dead or not. Hell, he’s already grooming a couple of Uchiha to start doing my job in Anbu-”
-And there it is. That gnawing anxiety made manifest, finally placing a finger on his emotions. And suddenly it occurs to him why Itachi was moving so slowly.
“Uchiha?”
“Eh? Yeah, some curly-haired brat and the police captain’s son. Why?”
Fuck.
He should’ve known. He should have known this would happen. And yet it still catches him off guard.
Stupid. Stupid.
Kabuto looks at him, probably wondering what he’s said wrong.
“...Orochimaru-sama?”
“I need you to run another errand for me, Kabuto.”
“Of course. What do you need?”
Opening the bag at his hip, Orochimaru fishes out a small, silver, snake-shaped charm, hanging from a piece of string.
“The captain’s son. I need you to be sure nothing happens to him.”
“Eh? Why-”
“Amai-kun and Hakuto-kun are occupied, and there’ll be trouble if it’s obvious I’ve interfered.”
“But why do you care about this one kid?” Kabuto asks, brow knit in genuine confusion.
“Just do this for me,” Orochimaru insists, shoving the snake charm into Kabuto’s hand. “It’ll make sense later. Right now I’m relying on you.”
Kabuto’s desire to be loyal outweighs his incredulity.
“...Alright. What do I do?”
“This will help you find him. Just make sure nothing...unsavory happens to him. Whatever it takes.”
“And if I have to fuck something up?”
“Make something up to cover it. You’re creative, I know you’ll figure it out.”
Kabuto nods his understanding.
“Good boy.”