Wow, it's really been a while. Hope I still have some interested readers. Anyways, let's go!
Itachi’s lifestyle underwent a dramatic change. The melancholy and friendless heir of the Uchiha clan was now more sociable than he ever imagined he could be. He spent virtually every day with his new clique, either training, or eating, or playing cards or board games, or having races through the Konoha forests(which either Himura or Itachi invariably won), or simply having a good long chat. Due to being members of the Hikari Annihilation Task Force, the four friends were very rarely assigned missions, and whenever they were deployed, it was for work which boasted only little to medium difficulty. Missions such as assassinating several average Jonin level traitor ninja, or simply retrieving covert messages from Konoha’s spies in the other ninja villages. Most of their time was spent lounging around the ANBU headquarters on shift duty, and it was less tedious and frustrating since they were usually given the same shifts now. It was like having an extended vacation.
The downside for Itachi was the fact that he was too preoccupied with his friends to make time for Sasuke. He wasn’t trying to shun the boy; the problem was that hanging out with Sasuke also meant bring around their father—a situation Itachi despised to the point of revulsion. He did steal a few chances though; usually intercepting Sasuke on his way back from the Academy.
There was also the problem of having to see Shiko regularly. In the three weeks that had elapsed since the creation of the Task Force, the Black Scorpion had called no less than six meetings, where they were updated about whatever progress that was made in tracking the Hikari responsible for the attack. Another annoying thing was the venue of these meetings—or rather venues as Shiko changed them after every meeting to ensure utmost secrecy. At one time, they’d gather under a specially selected tree, in a specially selected grove at midnight, at another time, they would be inside a murky, dismal, dark and dreary cave at dawn. Today, Shiko would tell them that the Tracking Unit traced her to Iwagakure, tomorrow she would be in Kumogakure, then Amegakure, and so on and so forth. Itachi was beginning to suspect that she must have realized that Konoha was on her tail and so she was probably trying shake them off by continually running around in circles. At the end of each of these gatherings, Shiko always assured them that the Hikari would soon be cornered and he implored them to always be ready for that fateful moment when they would encounter and hopefully defeat her.
It was advice which they took to heart. Itachi was more vigilant with his morning training sessions. He was now usually joined by his friends, and they relocated to one of Konoha’s Training Grounds. Itachi had not engaged in such rigorous exercise since the days when Shisui was still counted among the living. Spars were common amongst them during those early hours of the day and, though he was the youngest of the four, Itachi held his ground reasonably well against the rest.
The young Uchiha had not spoken to Mitsuki in all this time. The last he saw of her was during the funeral held for the deceased Intel shinobi. She was quiet and somber, dressed in a long sleeved black gown, her face shadowed by a dark veil. Itachi did his very best not to look at her, though she caught him stealing a few furtive glances while she was doing the same, her veil hiding nothing from Itachi’s piercing gaze. The faces of the two Uchiha reflected no love and kindness whenever their eyes met and they always looked away from each other disdainfully. It was all very awkward and discomfiting and Itachi was more than glad when the flowers were laid on the graves and the ceremony concluded. His apparent lack of sympathy was a result of the fact that he knew none of the dead, as his Uchiha kinsmen worked in the Konoha Police and his only friends were Hoji, Himura and Sato.
Itachi held no desire to share his relationship problems with his new friends, however. When they asked about Mitsuki, the boy simply replied that things were all right and sometimes, he lied that he was going to meet her in order to keep up appearances. At these times, he strayed to the outskirts of the village for some ‘alone time’, having located a new spot for his quiet brooding, one he was sure Mitsuki was unaware of, though he doubted she would be inclined to look for him.
As already mentioned above, most of his time was spent with his little crew of friends, like this Thursday afternoon, where the glass paned windows shook and trembled with the violence of the wind, which lashed at them furiously with all its might, throwing stinging droplets of rain with a fervor that rose to the point of madness. Just like the people had scampered away from the streets to escape the disagreeable weather, the sun hid his bright luminescent face behind a thick, dense veil of dark grey clouds, and the only illumination that came from the sky were the instant flashes that came and went as bolts of lightning leapt wildly across the heavens, leaving heart rending peals of thunder in their wake.
Itachi was lucky enough to have arrived at Hoji’s place before the storm was well underway, though he did not totally escape Nature’s wrath as he was left soaked and sodden by the little foretaste he endured on his way. Hoji, ever the good host, was kind enough to prepare some steaming hot tea for the Uchiha, while he squeezed the water out of his hair and clothes, and dried himself with a towel in the bathroom. Soon, Itachi was dry enough to sit on the Senju’s bed without rendering it soaked, and he was sipping his tea with a quiet grace born from years living amongst the most dignified of Uchiha.
Himura was already present, smoking a cigarette as he sat at the table, with his face towards Hoji’s window. There were some small remnants of rice and fish on the plate set before him, meaning he had already eaten. The weather seemed to have put him in a less talkative mood as he greeted Itachi with only a glance, a half-smile and nod before he returned his attention to the torrential downpour buffeting the entire village as he could see from the recess of Hoji’s rattling window, a meditative expression on his face. Hoji was apparently busy in the kitchen but the aroma which issued through the crack in the door was more acrid than savory, which informed them that he wasn’t cooking anything, though he might have been trying to suffocate them all to death.
Unable to take anymore of the stench in the air, Himura withdrew from his brooding and hollered a complaint, “What the hell are you doing in there?”
“Oh…experimenting…” came the muffled voice of the Senju, the reply punctuated by some coughs.
“What foul concoction are you making this time?” the Sarutobi growled in a raspy voice.
“It’s not a foul concoction. It’s a new drug that will revolutionize the entire shinobi world. It will—”
“That’s what you said last time, and the only thing that got revolutionized was your ceiling. You remember, right? How it caught fire?”
Itachi was mildly curious about what they were talking about. He might have asked about it if he didn’t already know them. The Uchiha had learned that gaining information from these folks was more about listening quietly to their conversations than actually inquiring about things. Besides, this method of simply observing them drew less attention to him—which was always a welcome benefit. So, he simply took more sips of his tea and watched the dramatic scene unfold, doing his best to ignore the mild irritation which the fumes were causing him.
“This one will work. I’m sure of it. A new soldier pill that has more power output and less risks to the body. Think about it, this—gah!” the Senju screamed as the air was piercing by the sound of shattering glass and a thick pall of smoke streamed out of the crack in the kitchen door, filling the entire room in seconds.
Himura’s right hand was covering his nose and his eyes glossed with tears, inflamed by the pungent fumes in the air. He grunted for a moment before shouting, his voice laced with rage, “Ah, you’ve done it again!”
“Open the wind—” but Hoji broke off into a violent fit of coughing.
“You idiot!” HImura spat in annoyance as he undid the latch of the window in from of him while Itachi made his way to the other window still on the same wall. It was really very had to see anything as the Sarutobi’s eyes were blinded by the haze even as they were reddened by the harsh fumes. The creak of a door was heard and suddenly the haze of smoke became a blinding mist, and Himura was positive his eyes and nostrils were on fire; Hoji had come out of the kitchen, and with him the full brunt of the caustic miasma.
“I swear I’m gonna—”
“Use your Wind, Himura,” a voice suggested. It was very raw and somewhat incoherent due to the coughs that accompanied the words, but it was somewhat recognizable as Itachi’s. “Blow it away—quickly!”
Himura gave one final growl of protest before he clapped his hands and dispelled the smoke with a sudden gale of wind, which blew everything out through the open windows. Sadly, it also had the undesirable side effect of throwing off Hoji’s blankets from the beds, sweeping away everything on his wooden table and leaving them messily scattered across the rug, mixed with the thrash that had poured out of the waste bin in the corner, which was also overturned.
With his frenzied hair and clothes still settling around him, Hoji’s face turned pale at the sight of such disorder. “You overdid it bro!”
Himura was seething, “Shut up, you trying to kill us!”
“No, the flask slipped from my hand and fell,” the Senju replied ruefully, already on his knees as he picked up his fallen possessions and set them in their places. “The compound isn’t supposed to come in contact with air. I guess I’ll have to get another sample from the hospital.”
“There must be something seriously wrong with you.”
“I’m just trying to make the shinobi world a better place.”
“Seems to me that you’re just trying to burn down your place! I swear—”
“Calm down, bro. You’re overreacting. Please, help me clean this place up. I’ve gotta pack up my equipment in the kitchen. Itachi,” Hoji turned to the Uchiha, “come help me.”
Itachi, who had just fixed the latch of one of the windows in order to keep out the storm, though the fierce downpour had managed to drench a good part of the rug in the few seconds that it was allowed inside the room, turned to Hoji and nodded before the two of them entered the kitchen. They heard Himura muttering under his breath as Hoji closed the door.
Though he had enjoyed several meals in Hoji’s apartment, Itachi had never entered the kitchen where the scrumptious delicacies were prepared, which was why his eyes were keen with interest as they swept over the whole room. With two windows which were shut tight against the weather(though they were shaken by the high winds), the kitchen was rectangular in shape, measuring about five meters by four meters, with several cupboards hanging near the ceiling, and several shelves either fixed to the walls or pushed up to one corner, to make space for main kitchen equipment; the sink, the stove, the kitchen table, the chopping table, the refrigerator, the dish rack filled with china. There were knives hanging off the walls, bowls and pots and pans sitting in the upper shelves, while foodstuff like yam and potato tubers, bags of granaries occupied in the lower shelves. The Uchiha could not see what was in the cupboards as they were firmly closed. The gas stove had two spaces where fire could be conjured for cooking and on one of this, Itachi saw the very kettle which prepared his tea.
On the kitchen table, the Uchiha was surprised to see several glass flasks and beakers—some round bottomed, others conical—filled with diversely colored chemicals, and test tubes standing in a wooden rack, either empty or with similar contents. There were other laboratory equipment like a scale, small spatula, a thermometer, a barometer, a small mortar with a pestle inside its bowl, goggles, and also a Bunsen burner alive with a small blue flame which whistled softly as it heated the flask on top off it. The liquid inside the container was bubbling at the boiling point, and effervescing a violet gas which Itachi could not identify, as the air was still tinged with the foul reek that had plagued the whole apartment earlier. The source of the miasma, Itachi saw as he looked at the floor where one of the flasks lay shattered into thousand pieces, was an orange liquid which had already slightly discolored the brown carpet where it had split and was still giving off the sickening smoky odor which was apparently the product of contact with air, as Hoji had mentioned earlier.
“So,” Itachi began, “should we mop it up?”
“Unnecessary,” the Senju responded as he filled a glass cup with water from the tap, “I just need a bit of your chakra.”
“What?”
But the medical ninja was already striding over to where the liquid had split, where he slowly tipped the water in his cup on the chemical on the floor.
“Ok…now just flow a bit of your Suiton chakra into it. Make sure it’s just Suiton.”
“Huh?”
“Just do it, you’ll see.”
Itachi bent as well and with an awkward feeling of uncertainty and some hesitation, placed his palm over the chemical, and dispensed some of his chakra into the liquid, just like ninja usually did when they walked on water. His eyes widened in surprise as he saw the orange chemical disappearing and several small, scintillating blue stones replacing them on the floor. There was a cracking and hissing sound as this happened. Itachi looked up to see Hoji smiling delightfully beside him.
“So, what is this?” he asked the Senju.
“The chemical was extracted from a flower known as Ōku no kiken. It can only be found in the Nara forest and has excellent medicinal qualities. When mixed with air, it’s quite pungent as you’ve seen. However, when mixed with chakra, it becomes lethal. With Raiton and Katon chakra, it reacts explosively, while with Fuuton, Doton and Suiton,”—here, Hoji paused to pick up one of the blue pebbles—“it forms a shiny blue crystal which is extremely poisonous when ingested.”
“Oh…”
“You know you can keep one if you like. Just don’t get it in your food or anything.” said Hoji with a chuckle.
Itachi pocketed one of the stones and stood up straight quickly. The Uchiha’s curiosity still not assuaged, he turned to the beaker emitting the purple gas on the burner.
“So, what’s that?”
“That is…” Hoji began in a faltering voice, as he got to his feet as well after gathering the rest of the stones, “..well, a work in progress.”
Itachi walked over to the whole set up with his gaze fixed on the chemical, “What are you trying to do?”
“Create a performance enhancer more powerful that the average soldier pill,” Hoji replied quickly, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice.
“Really?”
“And I’m almost there too. You know the Akimichi clan has a series of pills which enhance their abilities greatly but have disastrous effects on their bodies. I’m trying to replicate that degree of power but without the drawbacks.”
“Is that even possible?”
“Well, that’s what I’m trying to find out. There’s been a few mishaps along the way but we’re making progress. Already developed a new variety of soldier pills which give some really interesting boosts. I can show them to you if you’d like.”
And Hoji was happy to display to a deeply interested Itachi the results of his work. Several pills of colors so diverse that they resembled candy, were extracted from a glass container in one of the cupboards and shown to Itachi with attendant explanations as to their respective effects when ingested; there was one that tripled current chakra levels; there was one that dulled one’s perception of pain even in the extreme without leaving their minds distorted as most painkillers did; there was a chemical that caused a temporary stimulation of the chakra circulatory system which would cancel even some top grade genjutsu, but with the drawback of temporary loss of chakra control leading to less battle efficiency; a pill that increased healing rate but shortened the lifespan; and finally a pill that heightened ones senses but led to extreme fatigue afterwards.
Itachi listened attentively to the whole explanation and was impressed with a higher respect for Hoji as a medical ninja and as a shinobi. Just as the medic was rounding up, Himura burst into the room.
“Ok, I’m done cleaning up. Geez, what’s taking you guys so long—oh, showing him the whole collection, I see.”
“Yeah, and it was nice to see he didn’t fall asleep half way through,” responded Hoji as he screwed the lid of the glass jar containing the experimental pills, glaring at the Sarutobi, “unlike some people.”
“Let it go, Hoji,” the Sarutobi responded with a shrug of his shoulders, “Just accept the fact that not everyone likes medicine.”
“It isn’t just medicine, it’s—”
“Yeah, yeah,” Himura cut him off as he lighted another cigarette, “where’s Sato anyways?”
“Oh, running errands for his uncle.” replied Hoji.
“The uptight one or the cool one?” inquired Himura.
“The cool one.” The medic replied.
“Ah. I should get going anyways. Training with sensei.”
“In this rain?”
“If I’m two seconds late, there’ll be a rain of blood—mine.” The Sarutobi returned with a dark chuckle as he blew out a puff of smoke, walking briskly towards the door in his usual easy manner. “Try not to burn the place down before tomorrow, ok? I’d hate to have to find somewhere else to get free lunch.” he said when he laid his hand on the door knob.
“Cheapskate” Hoji quipped back, but Himura had already shut the door.
Itachi was still standing in the kitchen, one hand shoved into his pocket and absentmindedly playing with the deadly crystal he had received from Hoji, while the medic packed up the rest of his lab equipment and carefully placed them in his kitchen shelves. Itachi waited for him to finish putting his things in order before he brought up the specific reason why he had come.
“Can I talk to you for a moment?” he asked when Hoji was finally done.
“Sure,” the medic replied with his usual genial smile and his happy voice. Itachi was happy to see the medic in such a good mood and felt a bit more confident as he spoke.
“I need a favor.”
“Anything, bro.” The reply was very welcoming and show a genuine eagerness to help that made Itachi quite assured that he would not be refused.
“Can I stay here for a few days?”
“Huh?” Hoji’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Umm…sure. But why?”
For a very brief second, Itachi considered telling him the actual reason why he wanted to be away from home. He thought about explaining how his father Fugaku had somehow heard of the Hikari Annihilation Project, and that Itachi was part of the task force prepared to face the organization. How his father had gotten angry at him for not mentioning it in the first place, had reluctantly accepted Itachi’s excuse that it was ‘secret ANBU business which he felt had no relevance to the Uchiha’s cause’, and the subsequently ordered Itachi to gather more data on Nara Shiko using this opportunity and report any developments in the Hikari chase.
When Itachi had questioned his father on why he was interested in the Black Scorpion and the Hikari, Fugaku explained that the Nara was a dangerous fellow whose abilities were mostly unknown and that he could prove a major threat to the clan, while the Hikari could be possible allies to the Uchiha’s plot against Konoha. Terrified by the idea of an alliance between a clan as desperate as the Uchiha and an organization and dangerous as the Hikari, Itachi had immediately decided that this was one order he would not even dream of obeying and that the less time spent at home, where his father could interrogate him at will concerning the Hikari, the better, since he planned on divulging nothing to him.
Itachi considered explaining all this Hoji but decided against it; as quickly as the thought had come, it was totally dispelled. It was a fancy so foolish that even little children wouldn’t dwell on it. This was reality. Being a very prudent fellow, he had already prepared a wonderful excuse which he felt was perfect, not only because it would meet his purpose, but because it wasn’t even a lie.
“Truthfully, I’ve been having some problems with Mitsuki so I don’t want to be around the Uchiha quarters.”
“Oh, my,” was the concerned reply of the medic, “what happened?”
Again, Itachi considered telling Hoji how they quarreled over whether or not it was a good idea to reduce Konoha to a pile of rubble and cause the mass deaths of all its citizens. But once more, he banished such idiotic notions.
“It’s complicated. I can’t go into all the details now. So, can I stay?”
Though the medic could be quite naïve sometimes, he did have the good sense to perceive Itachi’s reluctance to talk about the issue. “Of course, of course. Never had a roommate before. This should be interesting.” Hoji said, scratching his chin pensively with a mischievous twinkle in his eye which made Itachi a little bit uncomfortable.
“Don’t worry,” said Itachi. “I’m quite easy to deal with. You’d hardly notice I’m here most of the time.”
But Hoji was shaking his head in disagreement. “Well, we can’t have that sort of behavior here. We’ll get rid of that gloomy, dark personality in no time!”
To Be Continued.
Itachi’s lifestyle underwent a dramatic change. The melancholy and friendless heir of the Uchiha clan was now more sociable than he ever imagined he could be. He spent virtually every day with his new clique, either training, or eating, or playing cards or board games, or having races through the Konoha forests(which either Himura or Itachi invariably won), or simply having a good long chat. Due to being members of the Hikari Annihilation Task Force, the four friends were very rarely assigned missions, and whenever they were deployed, it was for work which boasted only little to medium difficulty. Missions such as assassinating several average Jonin level traitor ninja, or simply retrieving covert messages from Konoha’s spies in the other ninja villages. Most of their time was spent lounging around the ANBU headquarters on shift duty, and it was less tedious and frustrating since they were usually given the same shifts now. It was like having an extended vacation.
The downside for Itachi was the fact that he was too preoccupied with his friends to make time for Sasuke. He wasn’t trying to shun the boy; the problem was that hanging out with Sasuke also meant bring around their father—a situation Itachi despised to the point of revulsion. He did steal a few chances though; usually intercepting Sasuke on his way back from the Academy.
There was also the problem of having to see Shiko regularly. In the three weeks that had elapsed since the creation of the Task Force, the Black Scorpion had called no less than six meetings, where they were updated about whatever progress that was made in tracking the Hikari responsible for the attack. Another annoying thing was the venue of these meetings—or rather venues as Shiko changed them after every meeting to ensure utmost secrecy. At one time, they’d gather under a specially selected tree, in a specially selected grove at midnight, at another time, they would be inside a murky, dismal, dark and dreary cave at dawn. Today, Shiko would tell them that the Tracking Unit traced her to Iwagakure, tomorrow she would be in Kumogakure, then Amegakure, and so on and so forth. Itachi was beginning to suspect that she must have realized that Konoha was on her tail and so she was probably trying shake them off by continually running around in circles. At the end of each of these gatherings, Shiko always assured them that the Hikari would soon be cornered and he implored them to always be ready for that fateful moment when they would encounter and hopefully defeat her.
It was advice which they took to heart. Itachi was more vigilant with his morning training sessions. He was now usually joined by his friends, and they relocated to one of Konoha’s Training Grounds. Itachi had not engaged in such rigorous exercise since the days when Shisui was still counted among the living. Spars were common amongst them during those early hours of the day and, though he was the youngest of the four, Itachi held his ground reasonably well against the rest.
The young Uchiha had not spoken to Mitsuki in all this time. The last he saw of her was during the funeral held for the deceased Intel shinobi. She was quiet and somber, dressed in a long sleeved black gown, her face shadowed by a dark veil. Itachi did his very best not to look at her, though she caught him stealing a few furtive glances while she was doing the same, her veil hiding nothing from Itachi’s piercing gaze. The faces of the two Uchiha reflected no love and kindness whenever their eyes met and they always looked away from each other disdainfully. It was all very awkward and discomfiting and Itachi was more than glad when the flowers were laid on the graves and the ceremony concluded. His apparent lack of sympathy was a result of the fact that he knew none of the dead, as his Uchiha kinsmen worked in the Konoha Police and his only friends were Hoji, Himura and Sato.
Itachi held no desire to share his relationship problems with his new friends, however. When they asked about Mitsuki, the boy simply replied that things were all right and sometimes, he lied that he was going to meet her in order to keep up appearances. At these times, he strayed to the outskirts of the village for some ‘alone time’, having located a new spot for his quiet brooding, one he was sure Mitsuki was unaware of, though he doubted she would be inclined to look for him.
As already mentioned above, most of his time was spent with his little crew of friends, like this Thursday afternoon, where the glass paned windows shook and trembled with the violence of the wind, which lashed at them furiously with all its might, throwing stinging droplets of rain with a fervor that rose to the point of madness. Just like the people had scampered away from the streets to escape the disagreeable weather, the sun hid his bright luminescent face behind a thick, dense veil of dark grey clouds, and the only illumination that came from the sky were the instant flashes that came and went as bolts of lightning leapt wildly across the heavens, leaving heart rending peals of thunder in their wake.
Itachi was lucky enough to have arrived at Hoji’s place before the storm was well underway, though he did not totally escape Nature’s wrath as he was left soaked and sodden by the little foretaste he endured on his way. Hoji, ever the good host, was kind enough to prepare some steaming hot tea for the Uchiha, while he squeezed the water out of his hair and clothes, and dried himself with a towel in the bathroom. Soon, Itachi was dry enough to sit on the Senju’s bed without rendering it soaked, and he was sipping his tea with a quiet grace born from years living amongst the most dignified of Uchiha.
Himura was already present, smoking a cigarette as he sat at the table, with his face towards Hoji’s window. There were some small remnants of rice and fish on the plate set before him, meaning he had already eaten. The weather seemed to have put him in a less talkative mood as he greeted Itachi with only a glance, a half-smile and nod before he returned his attention to the torrential downpour buffeting the entire village as he could see from the recess of Hoji’s rattling window, a meditative expression on his face. Hoji was apparently busy in the kitchen but the aroma which issued through the crack in the door was more acrid than savory, which informed them that he wasn’t cooking anything, though he might have been trying to suffocate them all to death.
Unable to take anymore of the stench in the air, Himura withdrew from his brooding and hollered a complaint, “What the hell are you doing in there?”
“Oh…experimenting…” came the muffled voice of the Senju, the reply punctuated by some coughs.
“What foul concoction are you making this time?” the Sarutobi growled in a raspy voice.
“It’s not a foul concoction. It’s a new drug that will revolutionize the entire shinobi world. It will—”
“That’s what you said last time, and the only thing that got revolutionized was your ceiling. You remember, right? How it caught fire?”
Itachi was mildly curious about what they were talking about. He might have asked about it if he didn’t already know them. The Uchiha had learned that gaining information from these folks was more about listening quietly to their conversations than actually inquiring about things. Besides, this method of simply observing them drew less attention to him—which was always a welcome benefit. So, he simply took more sips of his tea and watched the dramatic scene unfold, doing his best to ignore the mild irritation which the fumes were causing him.
“This one will work. I’m sure of it. A new soldier pill that has more power output and less risks to the body. Think about it, this—gah!” the Senju screamed as the air was piercing by the sound of shattering glass and a thick pall of smoke streamed out of the crack in the kitchen door, filling the entire room in seconds.
Himura’s right hand was covering his nose and his eyes glossed with tears, inflamed by the pungent fumes in the air. He grunted for a moment before shouting, his voice laced with rage, “Ah, you’ve done it again!”
“Open the wind—” but Hoji broke off into a violent fit of coughing.
“You idiot!” HImura spat in annoyance as he undid the latch of the window in from of him while Itachi made his way to the other window still on the same wall. It was really very had to see anything as the Sarutobi’s eyes were blinded by the haze even as they were reddened by the harsh fumes. The creak of a door was heard and suddenly the haze of smoke became a blinding mist, and Himura was positive his eyes and nostrils were on fire; Hoji had come out of the kitchen, and with him the full brunt of the caustic miasma.
“I swear I’m gonna—”
“Use your Wind, Himura,” a voice suggested. It was very raw and somewhat incoherent due to the coughs that accompanied the words, but it was somewhat recognizable as Itachi’s. “Blow it away—quickly!”
Himura gave one final growl of protest before he clapped his hands and dispelled the smoke with a sudden gale of wind, which blew everything out through the open windows. Sadly, it also had the undesirable side effect of throwing off Hoji’s blankets from the beds, sweeping away everything on his wooden table and leaving them messily scattered across the rug, mixed with the thrash that had poured out of the waste bin in the corner, which was also overturned.
With his frenzied hair and clothes still settling around him, Hoji’s face turned pale at the sight of such disorder. “You overdid it bro!”
Himura was seething, “Shut up, you trying to kill us!”
“No, the flask slipped from my hand and fell,” the Senju replied ruefully, already on his knees as he picked up his fallen possessions and set them in their places. “The compound isn’t supposed to come in contact with air. I guess I’ll have to get another sample from the hospital.”
“There must be something seriously wrong with you.”
“I’m just trying to make the shinobi world a better place.”
“Seems to me that you’re just trying to burn down your place! I swear—”
“Calm down, bro. You’re overreacting. Please, help me clean this place up. I’ve gotta pack up my equipment in the kitchen. Itachi,” Hoji turned to the Uchiha, “come help me.”
Itachi, who had just fixed the latch of one of the windows in order to keep out the storm, though the fierce downpour had managed to drench a good part of the rug in the few seconds that it was allowed inside the room, turned to Hoji and nodded before the two of them entered the kitchen. They heard Himura muttering under his breath as Hoji closed the door.
Though he had enjoyed several meals in Hoji’s apartment, Itachi had never entered the kitchen where the scrumptious delicacies were prepared, which was why his eyes were keen with interest as they swept over the whole room. With two windows which were shut tight against the weather(though they were shaken by the high winds), the kitchen was rectangular in shape, measuring about five meters by four meters, with several cupboards hanging near the ceiling, and several shelves either fixed to the walls or pushed up to one corner, to make space for main kitchen equipment; the sink, the stove, the kitchen table, the chopping table, the refrigerator, the dish rack filled with china. There were knives hanging off the walls, bowls and pots and pans sitting in the upper shelves, while foodstuff like yam and potato tubers, bags of granaries occupied in the lower shelves. The Uchiha could not see what was in the cupboards as they were firmly closed. The gas stove had two spaces where fire could be conjured for cooking and on one of this, Itachi saw the very kettle which prepared his tea.
On the kitchen table, the Uchiha was surprised to see several glass flasks and beakers—some round bottomed, others conical—filled with diversely colored chemicals, and test tubes standing in a wooden rack, either empty or with similar contents. There were other laboratory equipment like a scale, small spatula, a thermometer, a barometer, a small mortar with a pestle inside its bowl, goggles, and also a Bunsen burner alive with a small blue flame which whistled softly as it heated the flask on top off it. The liquid inside the container was bubbling at the boiling point, and effervescing a violet gas which Itachi could not identify, as the air was still tinged with the foul reek that had plagued the whole apartment earlier. The source of the miasma, Itachi saw as he looked at the floor where one of the flasks lay shattered into thousand pieces, was an orange liquid which had already slightly discolored the brown carpet where it had split and was still giving off the sickening smoky odor which was apparently the product of contact with air, as Hoji had mentioned earlier.
“So,” Itachi began, “should we mop it up?”
“Unnecessary,” the Senju responded as he filled a glass cup with water from the tap, “I just need a bit of your chakra.”
“What?”
But the medical ninja was already striding over to where the liquid had split, where he slowly tipped the water in his cup on the chemical on the floor.
“Ok…now just flow a bit of your Suiton chakra into it. Make sure it’s just Suiton.”
“Huh?”
“Just do it, you’ll see.”
Itachi bent as well and with an awkward feeling of uncertainty and some hesitation, placed his palm over the chemical, and dispensed some of his chakra into the liquid, just like ninja usually did when they walked on water. His eyes widened in surprise as he saw the orange chemical disappearing and several small, scintillating blue stones replacing them on the floor. There was a cracking and hissing sound as this happened. Itachi looked up to see Hoji smiling delightfully beside him.
“So, what is this?” he asked the Senju.
“The chemical was extracted from a flower known as Ōku no kiken. It can only be found in the Nara forest and has excellent medicinal qualities. When mixed with air, it’s quite pungent as you’ve seen. However, when mixed with chakra, it becomes lethal. With Raiton and Katon chakra, it reacts explosively, while with Fuuton, Doton and Suiton,”—here, Hoji paused to pick up one of the blue pebbles—“it forms a shiny blue crystal which is extremely poisonous when ingested.”
“Oh…”
“You know you can keep one if you like. Just don’t get it in your food or anything.” said Hoji with a chuckle.
Itachi pocketed one of the stones and stood up straight quickly. The Uchiha’s curiosity still not assuaged, he turned to the beaker emitting the purple gas on the burner.
“So, what’s that?”
“That is…” Hoji began in a faltering voice, as he got to his feet as well after gathering the rest of the stones, “..well, a work in progress.”
Itachi walked over to the whole set up with his gaze fixed on the chemical, “What are you trying to do?”
“Create a performance enhancer more powerful that the average soldier pill,” Hoji replied quickly, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice.
“Really?”
“And I’m almost there too. You know the Akimichi clan has a series of pills which enhance their abilities greatly but have disastrous effects on their bodies. I’m trying to replicate that degree of power but without the drawbacks.”
“Is that even possible?”
“Well, that’s what I’m trying to find out. There’s been a few mishaps along the way but we’re making progress. Already developed a new variety of soldier pills which give some really interesting boosts. I can show them to you if you’d like.”
And Hoji was happy to display to a deeply interested Itachi the results of his work. Several pills of colors so diverse that they resembled candy, were extracted from a glass container in one of the cupboards and shown to Itachi with attendant explanations as to their respective effects when ingested; there was one that tripled current chakra levels; there was one that dulled one’s perception of pain even in the extreme without leaving their minds distorted as most painkillers did; there was a chemical that caused a temporary stimulation of the chakra circulatory system which would cancel even some top grade genjutsu, but with the drawback of temporary loss of chakra control leading to less battle efficiency; a pill that increased healing rate but shortened the lifespan; and finally a pill that heightened ones senses but led to extreme fatigue afterwards.
Itachi listened attentively to the whole explanation and was impressed with a higher respect for Hoji as a medical ninja and as a shinobi. Just as the medic was rounding up, Himura burst into the room.
“Ok, I’m done cleaning up. Geez, what’s taking you guys so long—oh, showing him the whole collection, I see.”
“Yeah, and it was nice to see he didn’t fall asleep half way through,” responded Hoji as he screwed the lid of the glass jar containing the experimental pills, glaring at the Sarutobi, “unlike some people.”
“Let it go, Hoji,” the Sarutobi responded with a shrug of his shoulders, “Just accept the fact that not everyone likes medicine.”
“It isn’t just medicine, it’s—”
“Yeah, yeah,” Himura cut him off as he lighted another cigarette, “where’s Sato anyways?”
“Oh, running errands for his uncle.” replied Hoji.
“The uptight one or the cool one?” inquired Himura.
“The cool one.” The medic replied.
“Ah. I should get going anyways. Training with sensei.”
“In this rain?”
“If I’m two seconds late, there’ll be a rain of blood—mine.” The Sarutobi returned with a dark chuckle as he blew out a puff of smoke, walking briskly towards the door in his usual easy manner. “Try not to burn the place down before tomorrow, ok? I’d hate to have to find somewhere else to get free lunch.” he said when he laid his hand on the door knob.
“Cheapskate” Hoji quipped back, but Himura had already shut the door.
Itachi was still standing in the kitchen, one hand shoved into his pocket and absentmindedly playing with the deadly crystal he had received from Hoji, while the medic packed up the rest of his lab equipment and carefully placed them in his kitchen shelves. Itachi waited for him to finish putting his things in order before he brought up the specific reason why he had come.
“Can I talk to you for a moment?” he asked when Hoji was finally done.
“Sure,” the medic replied with his usual genial smile and his happy voice. Itachi was happy to see the medic in such a good mood and felt a bit more confident as he spoke.
“I need a favor.”
“Anything, bro.” The reply was very welcoming and show a genuine eagerness to help that made Itachi quite assured that he would not be refused.
“Can I stay here for a few days?”
“Huh?” Hoji’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Umm…sure. But why?”
For a very brief second, Itachi considered telling him the actual reason why he wanted to be away from home. He thought about explaining how his father Fugaku had somehow heard of the Hikari Annihilation Project, and that Itachi was part of the task force prepared to face the organization. How his father had gotten angry at him for not mentioning it in the first place, had reluctantly accepted Itachi’s excuse that it was ‘secret ANBU business which he felt had no relevance to the Uchiha’s cause’, and the subsequently ordered Itachi to gather more data on Nara Shiko using this opportunity and report any developments in the Hikari chase.
When Itachi had questioned his father on why he was interested in the Black Scorpion and the Hikari, Fugaku explained that the Nara was a dangerous fellow whose abilities were mostly unknown and that he could prove a major threat to the clan, while the Hikari could be possible allies to the Uchiha’s plot against Konoha. Terrified by the idea of an alliance between a clan as desperate as the Uchiha and an organization and dangerous as the Hikari, Itachi had immediately decided that this was one order he would not even dream of obeying and that the less time spent at home, where his father could interrogate him at will concerning the Hikari, the better, since he planned on divulging nothing to him.
Itachi considered explaining all this Hoji but decided against it; as quickly as the thought had come, it was totally dispelled. It was a fancy so foolish that even little children wouldn’t dwell on it. This was reality. Being a very prudent fellow, he had already prepared a wonderful excuse which he felt was perfect, not only because it would meet his purpose, but because it wasn’t even a lie.
“Truthfully, I’ve been having some problems with Mitsuki so I don’t want to be around the Uchiha quarters.”
“Oh, my,” was the concerned reply of the medic, “what happened?”
Again, Itachi considered telling Hoji how they quarreled over whether or not it was a good idea to reduce Konoha to a pile of rubble and cause the mass deaths of all its citizens. But once more, he banished such idiotic notions.
“It’s complicated. I can’t go into all the details now. So, can I stay?”
Though the medic could be quite naïve sometimes, he did have the good sense to perceive Itachi’s reluctance to talk about the issue. “Of course, of course. Never had a roommate before. This should be interesting.” Hoji said, scratching his chin pensively with a mischievous twinkle in his eye which made Itachi a little bit uncomfortable.
“Don’t worry,” said Itachi. “I’m quite easy to deal with. You’d hardly notice I’m here most of the time.”
But Hoji was shaking his head in disagreement. “Well, we can’t have that sort of behavior here. We’ll get rid of that gloomy, dark personality in no time!”
To Be Continued.
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