Chapter Text
Time passed. Itachi continued to visit Sho for counselling three times a week. He trained Sasuke whenever Sasuke asked him, and somehow that also turned into training Sasuke’s little friends Naruto and Sakura.
Itachi had been greatly amused to learn that in this reality, rather than the scenario where Sakura chased Sasuke, Naruto chased Sakura, and Sasuke pretended to ignore both of them, Sakura and Naruto were dating. Apparently with the Yondaime still alive, Naruto was the opposite of a pariah and so when he had asked the little pinkhead out, she had jumped at the chance. Sasuke still had fangirls, but not quite as many (perhaps because he did not have the tortured soul thing going this time. Itachi considered once again the many and myriad ways that he had failed his little brother. Accidentally tuning him into a giant fangirl magnet was, in his opinion, one of the more egregious ways that he had failed his little brother.) In any case, he seemed content to have Sakura as a friend, rather than a love interest.
The problem was however that other than the counselling sessions, and training the kids, and the regular awkward family dinners where Itachi did his best to avoid the subtle interrogations of his mother, and the somewhat more straightforward interrogations from Shisui and Sasuke, and occasionally (shudder) socialising with Hana and Anko, who had both taken it upon themselves to drag him out at least once a week (it would be more, but the both of them had missions that often took them out of the village, to Itachi’s relief,) Itachi didn’t really have any real demands on his time.
Of course, there was also the training that Itachi was engaging in in secret to bring himself back up to scratch, but there was only so many hours in the day that he could do that. He was working on it, but in the meantime, if he pushed himself too hard, he would just destroy his body, rather than conditioning it to perfection (privately he had always thought that Gai and his odd little student must have some secret muscle and joint regeneration bloodline, as there was no other explanation that made sense for what it was that they had not crippled themselves with their training regime years ago.)
So Itachi, for the first time in his life (lives) was something that he had never been when not keeping watch.
Itachi was bored.
He was off the roster until Sho cleaed him, so missions were completely out of the question. He couldn’t get a job doing anything in the civilian sector, because frankly, if he even offered to apply, they would think he was part of some elaborate joke. (He did consider for a moment disguising himself as a civilian and then infiltr- he meant applying for a job as waitstaff or something, but in the end he decided it would not be worth the hassle if someone figured out it was him.)
He had asked his mother if she or any of the other clan members could give him something to do, but she had responded that he should just focus on getting better. (Shisui had laughed at Itachi’s woebegone expression at this, when he had retold it, but had not had anything useful to offer in the way of advice, apart from suggesting that Itachi get a hobby.)
After a while, Itachi hit upon something new to do.
No one was giving him missions, so what he should do is give himself missions. Nothing violent, of course- Itachi didn’t want to upset Ibiki and end up in a cell or something- but there was no reason that he couldn’t give himself fact-finding missions (and if nothing else, he could figure out a few more differences between this world and his last one- it would not do to get blindsided with something like his father’s death again (Itachi still did not know how he felt about that, apart from the emotion that was uncomfortably close to relief.)
But what to discover?
At first, it was what people thought about the Uchiha. There had been no coup in this world, so Itachi wanted to learn why.
After a while, he realised that apart from the criminal element, most people really liked the Uchiha, because they saw them as an important part of the village- the backbone of the police force that arbitrated between the civilians and the ninja. Also, when he went to investigate the police, he was startled to realise that there was a far larger proportion than he remembered that were not Uchiha. A little further investigation showed that this was because his mother had apparently decided that it was a good way to ensure that the village owned the police force. Most of the positions of power were still Uchiha, but that was more because they were the most experienced. The last three promotions to officer had been non-Uchiha, and from what Itachi could tell, the positions had been offered on the basis of genuine merit, not as a sop to the rest of the village.
The investigation into the police force had taken him the better part of two weeks, but once he was done that, Itachi decided to focus on something a bit more personal, something that was starting to piss him off.
What the hell was going wrong with the Academy?
Because now that he had time to really focus on Sasuke, to spend time with him and do more than occasionally show him a flashy trick, Itachi had started to realise that someone had been systematically sabotaging his brother’s education. Spending some time with Sakura and Naruto had only shown him that the problem was not confined only to his brother’s education.
So Itachi decided to investigate.
Hiding in a tree across from the Academy, Itachi watched the fitness and martial arts portions of the class. The chunin with the ponytail and the scar on his nose… Iruka… he seemed to be doing his best. Itachi nodded in approval as he saw him correct stances and show methods that were how Itachi himself remembered them to be from his very brief stint in the Academy.
So the problem was not him. Good. Sasuke liked Iruka. Itachi liked how Iruka made an effort to be a good teacher to Sasuke. Itachi was glad that he would not have to have a conversation with Iruka.
The other teacher who took Sasuke’s class however… the grey-haired one named Mizuki.
Now he was someone that Itachi might have to have a few words with.
It seemed that whenever Iruka’s back was turned, Mizuki was causing trouble. Sowing discord by playing favourites, teaching poor forms and flashy moves that were worse than useless in the scheme of things. Once, Itachi saw him actively sabotage some developing team-work.
Itachi was not surprised that Iruka had yet to notice. After all, dealing with a class of 20 pre-teens who had been armed with sharp weapons and managing to keep them on task most of the time was a feat that Itachi could respect.
Also, Iruka had no reason to suspect that his co-teacher was undermining him. When Itachi looked up Mizuki’s file (once again using a clone to infiltrate the Records- the level of security on that place was shocking, and once he got to the bottom of this passive attempt to get his little brother killed, that would be his next target, Itachi decided,) he could see that the two of them had been working together for almost five years. When Itachi pulled up the records of the graduating classes, he saw that the standards of graduates, and the length of survival of those graduates had been declining at an almost infinitesimally slow pace. But when Itachi collated the results, and drew some lines through it, the trend was clear, especially when he cut out the clan kids (because clan kids all got specialised training from their families, obviously. They had every advantage over the civilian kids. Unfair? Of course. They were ninja. Life was never meant to be fair, which was why you had to stab it in the back from the shadows, and kick it in the balls to make sure it stayed down).
Once Itachi had all his information, he wondered who it was worth going to.
Who would take him seriously? The rumour mill was vicious. Itachi knew that most thought he had cracked, and he had no interest whatsoever in spending time trying to convince people to pay attention to what he wanted to say, rather than just pointing at the facts and letting them speak for themselves.
In the end, he realised (and it felt a little ironic) that the one person who was most likely to take him seriously was Sho.
“You asked me what I’ve been doing lately,” he said in his session with her.
“Yes,” Sho acknowledged. “And you fed me some bullshit about training and relaxing and catching up on your reading,” she said a little tartly.
Itachi shrugged inwardly. He had suspected that she would not believe him about that. It was a pretty poor lie anyway, by his standards. (Almost as though he had been confiding in her by lying, telling her what he wasn’t doing to show how not okay he was… sometimes, Itachi mused, maybe he should consider relating to people using less layers of meaning. It might be more relaxing. Well, no time like the present.)
Itachi pulled out his notes.
“I’ve been training my little brother and some of his friends on occasion in the afternoons,” Itachi stated.
“You have mentioned this before,” Sho affirmed.
“What I did not tell you was that I had started to suspect that someone was sabotaging Sasuke’s training.” Itachi told her.
Sho blinked, and then leaned forward.
“That’s a very serious accusation,” she said mildly, but Itachi, to his relief, saw that she was taking him seriously. “Could you explain how you came to this conclusion?”
Itachi gestured towards his notes. “I wrote it up as a report, but…” he outlined it all, using technical explanations that he was pleasantly surprised Sho was able to follow, because as far as he knew, Sho was not a taijutsu specialist. (Sho’s understanding of the psychological ploys he had noted went without saying.)
“I see,” she said when he had finished. Then she looked at the pile of notes. “You did do some digging, didn’t you,” she stated rhetorically.
Itachi nodded anyway.
Sho closed her eyes.
“Can I assume that you got you information from channels that were not exactly free to the public?” she continued, her tone mildly exasperated.
Itachi smirked.
“Yes, yes,” she flapped her hand at him. “Stupid question, I know, especially considering some of the missions that you’ve had to do. You probably wouldn’t know a legal channel if you tripped over it.”
Itachi snorted. “You forget, I’m an Uchiha. We are the legal channels.”
Sho facepalmed.
“If I did not know that you were attempting to be funny, Itachi, I would be outright concerned,” she said. “Now. You’ve done your investigation. Obviously you found something, because otherwise I have a feeling I never would have heard a word about this. So,” she leaned forward expectantly. “What did you find?”
Itachi outlined his findings. He showed her the graphs.
Sho visibly stiffened as she listened, and read.
After Itachi had run out of things to tell her, she sat back for a few moments, considering.
“Whilst your obsession over your brother’s well-being borders on unhealthy, yes it does, don’t interrupt me,” she said, holding one hand up, “this time, it has provided some important dividends. I take it you took this to me because you know I carry a bit of clout in high places, and I am likely to be immune to any fall-out.”
Itachi nodded. “And I could be sure that you would listen to me,” he admitted.
Sho smiled a little sadly at him. “Don’t sell yourself short. I’m sure that if you had taken this to your friends, or Shisui, then they would have listened. You aren’t mad Itachi, just hurt and hurt badly.”
Itachi blinked. Well that was something that she had not said to him before. Normally, Sho refrained from making any comment about his condition. How about that. Something to mull over later.
“In any case,” he said, in a deliberately bland tone, “I trust you to ensure this gets to the right people.”
“Nice try,” Sho said, “but if you think you’re dumping this in my lap and walking away, you’ve got another think coming, mister. Come on, we’ll go run this by the Hokage. See if we can’t get this all wrapped up by dinner time.”
If Itachi had had any doubts as to the amount of clout that Sho carried in the village before, he would have been forced to change his opinion after watching how the layers of security and interference that usually delayed people from seeing the Hokage immediately without being ANBU or speaking emergency codes seemed to crumple like so much paper in front of Sho as they walked arm in arm into the Hokage’s office. (Sho had insisted. Something about wanting a pretty escort, but Itachi suspected that there was rather more to it than that. In the end, he counted it as inconsequential, and so let it by.)
When they reached the last secretary, they finally encountered some resistance.
“The Hokage is busy.” The chunin at the desk said.
Sho looked her in the eye. “Is he dealing with an emergency? Is it of national importance? Is it time sensitive?”
The chunin blinked.
Sho rolled her eyes.
“Then he’ll see me now,” and walked straight into the office.
The Yondaime looked up from debriefing a somewhat-battered looking jonin.
“Hello Sho,” Minato said, his brow furrowing slightly. “And Itachi-kun. What is it? Oh,” he turned to the jonin. “You, get to medical, and then come back tomorrow morning. Pull an Obito on me, and I’ll put you on D-ranks for a month.”
The jonin blinked, but then hurriedly shunshinned out. She didn’t know what the hell was going on, (she had never seen that lady before) but it apparently involved Uchiha Itachi and just that was enough to tell her that whatever it was, it was going to be interesting. She was almost sorry she had had to leave, but she suspected that if this was as serious as it looked- Itachi had not looked apathetic for the first time in recent memory, and if that was not worthy of remark, she didn’t know what was…- then she was going to probably be hearing all about it in the jonin lounge tomorrow anyway.)
“So,” said Minato, once they were alone. “Sho, you have your serious face on. Last time you had your serious face on like that, three jonin cried.”
Belatedly, Itachi realised that at least part of the reason that the way had cleared in front of them so quickly was that Sho was leaking killing intent on an insidious level. He had been trying to figure out why she suddenly felt so familiar. He was no expert in mental health, but he was pretty sure that the fact that he felt more comfortable around her now that she was leaking Kakuzu levels of Killing Intent was probably something most would find distinctly worrying.
Sho nodded. “Itachi here has uncovered sabotage in the Academy.”
Minato stilled. It was a little like watching a cobra freeze just before it struck, Itachi mused.
“What,” the Yondaime said flatly.
Sho nodded. “itachi, show him the report you so helpfully wrote up.”
Itachi handed over his notes, and the Yondaime quickly skimmed them.
“I see,” said the Yondaime after a few minutes. “We will be having a discussion about how you got your hands on the confidential files, Itachi, but considering the gravity of your concerns, I think we can safely say that you will not be receiving any censure. This time.” He made a handsign, and two of the four ANBU that Itachi had detected from the instant they entered the room dropped down.
“Please observe my son’s class today. I would like independent opinions and observations. Then the moment the school-day ends, take Mizuki into custody. He will be awaiting Ibiki’s pleasure tonight. We are getting to the bottom of this now. Then collect up the other Academy teachers. We need to see how deep this rot goes.”
Needless to say, the fact that the Yondaime’s own son was currently at the Academy was more than enough reason for Namikaze Minato to be taking reports of educational sabotage rather personally. Considering how impressed that Itachi imagined he would normally be (i.e. furious,) Itachi reflected that today was a very bad day to be an Academy teacher. Especially an Academy teacher named Mizuki.
Oh. There was a thought. “One thing,” he said.
“What is it?” the Yondaime asked him.
“Umino Iruka. I observed him interacting with Mizuki. From the way that Mizuki took care to ensure Iruka’s attention was off him, I would assess that they were not working together, and in fact, I would suggest that Iruka has no doubt been doing some serious damage control.”
Minato nodded thoughtfully.
“That is good. Naruto would be devastated if I had to execute his favourite teacher,” he said blandly. “I’ll keep your assessment in mind,” he said. But the Yondaime would be getting independent opinions as well, and relying on them possibly more, he did not say. But he had at least acknowledged Itachi’s opinion, which Itachi appreciated.
“He is Sasuke’s favourite teacher as well,” Itachi admitted.
To his surprise, that drew a smile out of the Hokage.
“You’re a good brother,” was however all he said.
Itachi did not outwardly react, but inwardly, he winced.
Sometimes, he really wondered.
Still, at least this time it had worked out in Sasuke’s favour. Or it would in the long-term.
“I will call you back for a debriefing after we have more information,” the Hokage continued, “but in the meantime…” he stretched. “Sho, Itachi, would you both join me for some ramen?”
Itachi blinked. Seriously?
“What, I have to eat too,” Minato said blithely. “And it has been a while since we talked, Itachi. Usually it’s all business between us, which is a shame, since I’ve known you since you were a tiny thing.”
Itachi was not quite sure what to make of this.
The Yondaime Hokage apparently thought that their relationship meant that the two of them having lunch was nothing all that unusual (although it sounded as though it had been a while). The Yondaime was asking Itachi and his counsellor to a meal.
Sure, why the fuck not.
If nothing else, it would be interesting.
Itachi nodded his consent.
Causing a scandal before lunch.
Going to counselling.
Lunch with the Hokage.
Weird day, and it wasn’t even over yet.
Itachi shrugged inwardly.
Well, at least he wasn’t bored anymore.