Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ A Crack in the Ice ❯ A Crack in the Ice ( One-Shot )

Author's Note: Okay. So here we are again in the same story situation. As you've probably found out already, this is a companion fic to “Missing Throughout my Life”. This is not a sequel. This is the same story except it focuses mainly around the elder Itachi and his feelings and reactions towards his son. This is meant to be read with “Missing Throughout my Life,” and they can be read in any order, but it is highly recommended that one reads “Missing Throughout my Life” first. This is probably going to be a fairly short oneshot fic, so I'm really sorry for those who might want more. Itachi is probably OOC, but there are two things I want you to keep in mind:

1.) I tried my best to portray him at least semi-correctly.

2.) When one has a son, it can really change that person, no matter how emotionless he may seem.

I all hope you enjoy the companion fic to “Missing Throughout my Life”!

-Yuugi-chan

 

A Crack in the Ice

 

She was such a stupid girl. As soon as she turned eighteen, she decided to sleep with him, not that he really cared. He left before she woke up, knowing the consequences of his actions. A smile played across his lips. His brother would hate him more than ever now that he had deflowered his fragile cherry blossom. It's not like he forced himself on her, she had done it out of her own accord, and that's what would make his little brother angry. No matter how many times she would tell him, he'd never believe her. And if he did? Well, that was another matter entirely.

So here he stood against the cool night air knowing that he had had his fun and now it was time to stop fooling around. It was time to get down to serious business. Just that afternoon, Kisame had been wondering where he was going, but of course he didn't tell him. Kisame didn't need to know his private affairs. Still, he wondered if there would actually be any outcome of his recent actions. Would anything come out of it or would there be absolutely no result at all? He immediately shook off these thoughts. What did he care? It wasn't his problem; at least, it wasn't anymore. So, after standing there contemplating over past events, he left Konoha behind him and didn't glance back…

 

He was mildly surprised at his brother's actions when he heard the news. He had married that pink-haired woman. That wasn't what piqued his interest though. What did pique his interest was that he had gone and had a relationship with the girl before he even tried to kill him. His brother hadn't gone after him for awhile now, and with the news of this event, Itachi wouldn't think he would anytime soon. He let off a soft sigh. Foolish little brother…

 

After the elder Uchiha had received the news of his younger brother's death, a new piece of information was floating about. He didn't really care about the new rumor, but when it reached him, it caught his interest once again. It had been a few years after his brother's death that there was a new ninja genius popping up in Konoha. He heard that it was “Uchiha's kid,” and he automatically assumed it was his brother's son… or daughter. This news floated about for years about how this young ninja prodigy was rapidly moving up the ranks, and soon, it irked him to no end. Now he was simply curious. So, when that nagging urge to go and investigate this matter became too strong, Itachi simply decided that it was time to pay a visit to the Uchiha compound.

 

As Itachi approached the house he once lived in, he wondered why he had chosen to come in the back way. Maybe it was just out of instinct. He had always come home from the back, so that might have been why. As he got closer, he noticed a small boy playing. The boy looked at him as he stopped about five feet away from the door. The boy instantly dropped the ball he was playing with and ran up to him.

“Nii-sama! Nii-sama!” he chanted happily. From the looks of things, the boy couldn't have been any older than four or five years old. Surely this wasn't the Uchiha prodigy everyone was talking about. The boy brightly continued his “nii-sama” chant and Itachi shifted his weight slightly on his feet. This boy's demeanor was much too cheery for him. He had obviously inherited his mother's annoying temperament. The boy didn't annoy him too much though when the boy had his hands up. His younger brother had done the same thing when he was his age. Itachi heard footsteps coming from around the back. The perpetrator was a boy of about nine or ten, or so he figured. The boy had a confused look on his face. This was probably the younger boy's elder brother. Itachi raised an eyebrow slightly. His brother had had two kids? For some reason, the facts didn't line up straight. His attention was shifted when the younger boy lightly tugged on his pant leg. Itachi looked down at the sunny five-year old.

“Nii-sama! Nii-sama up! Tatsuke wants up!” Ah, so that was the boy's name. That still didn't answer the question of his elder brother's name.

The boy, who must have gotten over his puzzlement came over and scooped up his younger brother.

“Sorry,” the elder apologized. “He usually isn't like this around strangers. I don't know why he would confuse you as his nii-“ the boy stopped short when he finally looked up at him. Itachi could understand the boy's shock, Itachi was also minutely surprised. It was like looking at a younger version of himself, or, if he were in the boy's shoes, an older version. Ah, now the facts were finally lining up. This ten-year old boy was his son. So there had been an outcome to that night's activity. The two stare at eachother silently until the boy finally came out of his stupor and turned his head towards the house.

“Okaa-san!” he called out.

“Yes?” a voice answered back. Her voice was still the same as when he had last met her, just not laced with passion as it had been on that night.

“There's a man out here!”

“Really? May I ask who?” The boy looked at Itachi and then looked at the house again.

“I don't know Okaa-san, but it feels like I'm looking in a mirror!” Itachi heard a dish break as it crashed onto the floor. Well that had gotten her attention.

“Itachi!” she called out. Both Itachi and the boy looked up.

“Yes Okaa-san?” the boy replied. Alright, third mystery unraveled. The boy was named Itachi; his name. He didn't know why, but the girl must have had good reason for it… or she couldn't come up with a better name.

“Bring Tatsuke in the house and stay there!” his mother demanded.

“Why?” the boy queried.

“Now's not the time for questions! Just do as you're told!” The boy looked at his father, looked at the house, and then looked at his father again. He shrugged as he walked inside just as his mother was coming out. Itachi caught one last glimpse of the boy as his mother forcefully shut the door behind her.

“What do you want Itachi?” she asked, her voice imbedded with venom. Itachi said nothing, and the stood in silence for about five minutes. Finally, he spoke.

“You have a very obedient son. He's not even trying to look out the window as we speak. You taught him well.” Sakura was a bit confused from this statement. Why Itachi be giving her a compliment? The world must have been coming to an end. Another bout of silence passed between the two.

“You didn't answer my question,” she finally hissed out. “What are you doing here Itachi?” He paused before speaking.

“I'm here because of a rumor. Now I can see why this rumor can be true. So tell me about him.”

“Why should I?”

“I am allowed to know about my son. It is my right, is it not?”

“Yes,” she ground out. “Yes it is.” He looked at her saying she could continue. She sighed.

“If you haven't figured it out already, his name is Itachi and he's currently ten years old. He mastered his Sharingan and graduated the ninja academy at age six, became a chunnin at eight, a jonin at nine, and now he's an ANBU squad member at age ten. He enjoys playing with his little brother and drawing,” she said.

“Drawing?” Itachi raised an eyebrow at this.

“Yes drawing. He must have gotten it from you as I have no talent in the area whatsoever. Am I right?” It was true. Itachi did enjoy drawing and used to sketch when he was younger when he had the time. Still, Itachi didn't answer her question. Instead, he asked another one of his own.

“And how is he in terms with his younger brother?”

“He loves him, thank you very much. I'm not letting him turn out like you,” she said at point blank. More silence passed.

“And how is his performance on missions?” he asked blandly.

“He hasn't killed anyone yet if that's what you're asking.” More silence. Eventually, Sakura, seeing the conversation with him was done, stalked inside.

As his mother was coming out, the young Itachi went out to take a look at the man that looked like his identical twin. Of course, the elder Itachi was not there, at least, not in front of him. Instead he came up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. The young boy jumped and looked at him. A few minutes of silenced passed between the two before the elder Itachi left. He stopped in the middle of the yard on his way out.

“When you kill someone,” he started, turning his head to face him, “don't hesitate.” And then he left.

 

Apparently, the ANBU was after this group of hunter nins too as Itachi quickly received news that the head of the group was killed off by a young ANBU member. Itachi didn't need to ask who, he already was one-hundred percent sure that the dispatcher of the man's death was his son. So he had made his first kill. Itachi made a mental note to go and see what his reaction was.

 

As Sakura came from putting Itachi she to bed, she heard a branch rustle from outside. The gut feeling in her stomach was quite sure that what had made the noise wasn't a squirrel. She opened the window and stuck her head out.

“Now what?” she hissed at the boy's father who was standing on a tree branch.

“I'm here to learn how the mission went with my son,” he simply replied.

“Since when do you care?” He just stared at her. “Fine,” she finally gave in, uneasy under his gaze. “He made his first kill, alright?”

“And his reaction to this was…?”

“He didn't take it too well. He came home in shock as he vomited and passed out in the doorway. When was washing up an hour ago, he scrubbed his arms raw trying to get off the blood he was seeing on his hands. He cried himself to sleep. There. Is that what you wanted to know?” Silence passed between the two and Sakura resisted the urge to jump up there on the branch with him and strangle an answer out of him.

“He's weak…” he said slowly, “like you…” And with that, he bounded off the branch and disappeared from sight.

 

It had been around three or four months since he was last in Konoha, so here he sat writing a mission report to hand in to his superiors. Itachi snorted at the thought. Someone superior to him? Hah! He head the door creak open behind him as one of the lower-ranking members stepped in. He was nervous, but that was common to most people who were around him.

“Yes?” he asked, not stopping and turning around from his mission report.

“Um, Itachi-sama, there's some news I think you should know,” he man responded nervously. Itachi paused for a few seconds in his writing. This man was more nervous than the usual were. It wasn't like he was going to kill the man.

“And this would be…?” He resumed his writing.

“I-It's about your son.” Itachi paused in his writing, longer this time. When he continued writing, he spoke.

“What about him?”

“He-He's dead. He was k-killed in the mission with the ANBU a few months ago…” Alright, he was going to kill the man.

“What did you say?”

“I said…” Itachi didn't give the man a chance to answer. The poor man was lifted up by the front of his shirt.

“Who did it?” he demanded, shaking him. Unnerved by his now activated Sharingan, the man gulped.

“It-It was Ken-Kenichi,” he squeaked.

“Where is he?”

“On-On a mission. He should be b-back any m-minute now.” Itachi dropped the man and made his way out the door…

 

Kenichi came in from his mission and shook himself off.

“Raining?” a voice next to him asked. There was Itachi standing next to him calmly leaning against the wall.

“Quite hard,” he replied.

“I heard you accomplished killing an ANBU member a few months back.”

“Yup!” he swelled with pride. “Poor bugger couldn't have been more than ten. He was stupid and hesitated, so I stabbed him straight through the heart. Poor lad didn't even see it coming.”

“And how do you feel about this?” Itachi asked softly leaning his head down.

“Oh, it was quite fun. It's not every day one kills and ANBU member.” Kenichi suddenly found himself lifted up by his shirt front and pinned against the opposite wall.

“So tell me, did you enjoy killing my son?” Itachi hissed.

“That-That was your son?” Kenichi gulped.

“Answer my question!”

“I-I…”

“If you lie, the consequences will be great. So did you, or did you not enjoy killing my son?” Kisame, who was walking by, heard a snippet of the conversation and popped his head around the corner. Oh boy, that man's a dead man. Poor schmuck. Everybody knew that getting Uchiha Itachi pissed off was never a good idea. Obviously, this man did not.

“Um… yes?” Kisame winced as Itachi literally tore the man apart. Sure he was used to blood and gore, but Itachi was usually pretty clean in his killings (as far as killings go), but when he let loose, he really let loose. See, this is why you should never get Uchiha Itachi ticked off…

 

As soon as Sakura had left the cemetery with her remaining son, Itachi jumped off the branch he was concealing himself in and alighted onto the ground. His feet crunched on the newly fallen snow as he walked over to his son's grave. He stopped when he was about five feet away. There were flowers on the grave where Sakura and her son had placed them. A small sigh escaped his lips. He couldn't do anything about his son's death and that irritated him. So, he stood there, looking on, hoping that there was some small shred of a chance that he might come back and that all of it was a lie. He knew though, that that would never happen…

 

Author's End Note: All right, my knowledge of the Akatsuki is very limited and I have been informed that there are only nine members, but let's just pretend there's more. For lack of a better name, I stole “Kenichi” from my brother's original character in his Tekken story (go read it, his user name's Psychoblue). Also, I just had to have some Yiddish word, so I used “schmuck” which basically means jerk or bastard. One last thing. Don't get on my back about OOCness. I know when my characters are OOC, but see the beginning author's note above for reasons. Hope you all enjoyed “A Crack in the Ice”!