Rescue
“Here we go- give this a go, I think you’ll like this!”
Itachi cocks his head, gingerly taking the glass Kasou hands to him.
It’s full of a deep purple liquid that smells sickly sweet when he lifts it to his mouth. His immediate instinct is to set it aside, thinking whatever is in it, it can’t be any good.
Kasou laughs at the face the boy pulls.
“What, do you not trust me? If I wanted to poison you I woulda done it by now!”
“It’s not that,” Itachi replies. “It’s just-”
“You like sweet things, don’t you? Give it a go.”
Itachi’s want to make a good impression outweighs his skepticism, so he takes a drink.
It burns a bit at the back of his throat, and it’s just as cloyingly sweet as it smells. Yet it puts a pleasant buzz in his head that he finds he quite likes, once he’s had a few swallows.
“...It’s not bad,” he conceeds.
“What’d I tell you? Would you guys look at this kid? You’d think he’s never had fun in his whole life!”
Itachi flinches when Kasou wraps an arm around him, pulling him in close.
“You’ve always got such a serious face, little boy!”
“I don’t mean to,” Itachi mumbles. “It’s just my face.”
“Well we gotta see if we can’t get a smile outta you tonight, eh?”
Itachi listens to the idol chatter, trying to block out the feeling in the back of his mind that something feels not right. He finishes off the drink he was given, and Kasou flags down the waitress to bring another round for all of them.
He reaches for the refilled glass, but it’s snatched away before he can grab it.
“-Terribly sorry!” a boy maybe a year or two younger than Itachi says, looking flustered and quite put out. “The kitchen made these wrong- the owner will skin us alive if we let you drink them!”
The gray-haired boy passes around new glasses to everyone at the table, still impeccably cheerful.
“I don’t know what they’re doing back there- this has happened to three different tables already, I’m so sorry!”
“Nah, don’t even worry about it!” one of Kasou’s friends laughs. “They can’t fuck a drink up any worse than my old lady!”
“The gray haired boy adjusts his glasses and smiles.
“Even if that’s true, I would never hear the end of it if I let you drink something that was made wrong!”
Kasou raises an eye at him.
“Do I know you from somewhere?”
“I don’t think so- I just started working here!”
“I still swear I’ve seen you around before!”
The boy laughs.
“I’ve got a pretty boring face- I guess it gives people deja vu! Well, I really should get back to work! Please let us know if you need anything else!”
The boy heads off with a little wave.
Itachi is about to reach for the new glass on the table, but as he’s leaning over, realizes there’s a folded piece of paper in his lap.
How’d that get there?
He unfolds it to reveal cramped, surgically precise handwriting.
You’ve been drugged. They’ve been poisoned.
“You alright, kid? You’ve gone white.”
Itachi stashes the note in his pocket and stands up (when did he get so shaky?).
“I’m fine. I’ve just-”
He takes off in the direction the gray-haired boy headed- he must have been drugged, for his legs to feel so heavy.
His head swims, his steps become unsteady. But he keeps his eyes set stalwartly forward, no matter how blurry his vision gets.
“Ow-”
-Tripping over his own two feet, he makes a sharp sound of protest when someone grabs him.
“You colossal moron. I would imagine anyone gunning for ANBU would know to check their drink first- I guess being naive is why Danzo picked you. Hell if I know why Orochimaru-sama gives a shit, though.”
The gray-haired boy’s voice is nothing like how it was before- it’s colder, dripping snark and annoyance with every word. He drags Itachi into the alley behind the restaurant and another building, grumbling the whole time. Itachi tries to speak, but it’s hard to make his mouth move.
“You got off lucky, I hope you know that. It would’ve been a real pain to pull his dick out of you after he keels over.”
“Wha-”
Itachi’s question morphs into a groan, as a white-hot pain sears his skull.
“It means Kasou and his little buddies were gonna take turns with you after they knocked you out. It’s basically a right of passage for any of Danzo’s favorites.”
The last word is spat out like it tastes vile.
Itachi finds himself pinned up against a wall, with the gray-haired boy going through all his pockets.
“Surprised he didn’t put any trackers on you- Danzo must really think you’re that trusting. Well. I suppose he was right.”
His head feels heavy. It’s hard to keep his eyes open…
“Listen here and listen good, because you’ve got maybe three minutes til you’re out cold for a good while. I already talked with that cousin of yours- he’s gonna come up with some bullshit to explain why there’s dead bodies in Shimo. All you have to do is go along with it. Got it? You’re a ninja- lying should come as easy as breathing.”
“Dea-”
“Yes, dead. They’ll be choking on their own vomit right about now. I came up with that poison myself. No coming back from that one.”
Itachi can’t even keep his head up anymore.
“...Why-”
“To be quite honest, I have no idea what ‘why’ you’re asking about, and I don’t particularly care. Now, you’re gonna feel like shit when you wake up, but just go along with whatever that other guy comes up with and you’ll make it out of this with your neck unbroken. Got it?”
Itachi manages to make a small sound of affirmation before blacking out.
“Wait, who are y-”
“I don’t particularly have a lot of time for stupid questions, so please don’t ask them.”
The gray-haired boy crosses his legs from his perch in a tree, fiddling with his glasses while he stares down at Shisui, looking thoroughly annoyed.
“I’m trying to help you out, so just work with me, okay? Unless you want something bad to happen to that baby cousin of yours.”
That gets Shisui to perk up.
“What’s happened to Itachi?!” He demands.
“There we go again, asking stupid questions- nothing’s happened to him. Well, not yet. Keep wasting my time and something might.”
Shisui growls.
“Fine. Whatever. The fuck do you want from me?”
The gray haired boy pushes his glasses further up his nose, kicking his legs in the air lazily.
“You’re gonna wanna head about five kilometers southeast. You’ll have to break into the house on the edge of town- the one with the red-painted door. In the biggest bedroom, hidden in the fake bottom of the wardrobe, you’re gonna find a set of notebooks. Grab those and take them back to Konoha with you, got it?”
Shisui raises an eyebrow.
“What’s in the notebooks?”
“Unless you wanna lose whatever hope you’ve got left in humanity, it’s best to leave it to the imagination. All you need to know is that they’re proof the guy who wrote in them is a two-timing asshole in more ways than one.”
Shisui glares at the boy, then up at the sun setting on the horizon.
“What about you then? And what’s this got to do with Itachi?”
“It’ll be clear in a bit. Just be good and cooperate with me okay?”
“Fine. Whatever. But if you’re fucking with me, I’m gonna rip your guts out through your nose.”
Smiling, the gray-haired stranger stands up, resting his hands on his hips.
“I’ll keep that in mind. Well. I should be off, then.”
And he is. Shisui glares at the space where he once was, muttering some choice swear words under his breath.
Cool. He was about to wrap shit up here, anyway. Then he’ll check and make sure this guy isn’t screwing with him.
At the moment, he wants to finish this mission, and make sure Itachi is safe. That’s all.
“Do you have any idea how lucky you are?!”
Kabuto scolds himself internally, knowing full well Itachi can’t understand him in this state.
And yet, he still talks, too annoyed (and too anxious) to keep quiet.
“Of all the people Orochimaru-sama could waste his time on, he does it on you. Do you even realize how good you have it?!”
No answer, of course. Even though such a thing would be impossible, Kabuto can’t help but be annoyed.
He gingerly leans Itachi against a section of the village gate that isn’t regularly patrolled. Quietly, he strolls a few meters away, pulling out a diversionary bomb, braces for the noise, and throws it. Hard.
It does what it’s supposed to, creating a huge noise and a flash of bright light. And with that, his job done, Kabuto takes off at full speed.
You better damn well be worth it, he complains inside his head. Or I swear I’ll come back and kill you.
He hears commotion already starting behind him.
“Hey, Itachi?! The hell?!”
“What the hell?! What happened?!”
“-Hey, kid, what’s going on?! Wake up!”
“Go grab the Captain! Itachi’s hurt, or sick, or something!”
Kabuto takes a second to stop running, glancing back at the four or five men crowded around Itachi, shaking him back to half-consciousness while another takes off into the village.
Good. he can tell Orochimaru he did as he was told.
This is the only time I save your ass. You better appreciate it.