Hiruzen faltered.
“At any rate, we must gather the Uchiha clan together in one spot and push them to the edge of the village. And we should do it now, while we can do it in the name of town planning after Nine Tails’s attack.”
Faced with the relentlessness of the man who embodied the darkness of the Anbu, the other three could only remain silent.
Itachi was satisfied with their new home. They were a fair distance from the center of the village, but Nakano Shrine, where the clan originated, was within the compound, and best of all, they were right on the edge of the village, so there was green all around them. Finding places to train was no trouble at all, and if he just walked a little, he could cross the border of the village, beyond which rugged hills rolled across the landscape. He also thought it was a good, quiet place for his baby brother to grow up.
However, the adults apparently felt differently. Ever since it was decided that rather than being scattered all over the village, the members of the clan would be brought together and a new compound built, a stream of young ninja had been coming and going from his father’s place.
Discrimination.
Persecution.
False accusations.
Itachi heard only reactionary words from his father’s room. And he was well aware of the reason the adults didn’t think this move was a happy one.
One of their clan was suspected to be the perpetrator of Nine Tails’s attack, and as a result, they had been pushed as a group to the edge of the village. And not permitted even a word to try to clear themselves.
Itachi was not surprised at all that his father and the others were outraged. But once a thing was decided, that had to be the end of it, didn’t it? The clan was all together at last, so the healthier choice was to think instead about trying to make the compound environment even better.
The village was a disaster after the destruction inflicted by Nine Tails. It wasn’t just the Uchiha clan going through difficult times: a great number of people had seen loved ones pass on ahead of them. Many had lost their homes, and had no idea what they were going to do. Shouldn’t the Uchiha clan consider themselves lucky, given that this compound was set up for them before measures were taken for a lot of other people who had lost everything in the catastrophe?
Itachi couldn’t contain his despair at the unrelenting dissatisfaction of these adults.
“All right, I’m going.” His father’s voice came from behind.
Itachi was sitting eating supper with his mother and Sasuke. But of course, his little brother still couldn’t eat solid food. Perched in his high chair, Sasuke bobbed his head from side to side, having only recently grown strong enough to hold it up. He turned big, round eyes on his brother, and stared curiously at Itachi lifting rice from his bowl to his mouth.
This boy is putting something white in his mouth on long sticks. What on earth do you suppose he’s doing?
The baby’s gaze was so intense that Itachi almost wondered if he wasn’t thinking grown-up thoughts like this. The baby wasn’t yet a year old, but he had strong eyes that clearly communicated his thoughts and will.
“What about supper?” his mother asked, looking past Itachi.
Itachi took this as an invitation to turn around, and caught a glimpse of his father’s stern face through the tiny gap in the sliding door.
“I’ll eat out. And I’ll be back late, so you go ahead to bed without me.”
“All right. We’ll see you later, then.”
“‘Bye,” he added to his mother’s farewell, and his father’s cool gaze pierced him. Unlike his little brother’s eyes, his father’s gave away no hint of what he was thinking.
“Next year’s the academy. You make sure you keep training hard.”
“All right.”
“Ahunnnh,” Sasuke raised his voice unintelligibly in imitation of Itachi.
His father looked at the baby and nodded slightly before disappearing completely behind the sliding door.
The family in the kitchen started eating again.
“What exactly are the grown-ups doing so late at night?” Itachi tossed the question at his only friend.
Shisui stared off at the Hokage Monument in the distance, a loose smile curling up the corners of his mouth.
They were sitting on a cliff outside the village, in a spot only they knew about. Below the cliff rising up perpendicular to the ground, there was a river that meandered along from behind the Hokage Monument and flowed out of the village. By the time it reached Itachi and Shisui, the water flowed much faster and deeper than at its starting point in the village.
“I’m a genin,” Shisui said, eyes still focused off in the distance. He turned toward the quietly listening Itachi and con-tinued softly, “So I go to the adults’ meetings.”
“Huh?”
“They meet regularly at Nakano Shrine.”
Itachi wanted to ask what exactly Shisui was talking about, but he was afraid, and no words came out.
Shisui looked down. “It’s something you don’t have to know about yet.”
Uneasy, Itachi stared at his friend as he averted his eyes.
A heavy air’s hanging over the clan …
Let it be a guess, Itachi murmured over and over in his heart.