Chapter Text
“Hi Itsuki,” Asuma greets dryly as he picks a book about Shogi off the shelf. “Why are you greeting people at a ninety-degree angle today if you don’t mind me asking?”
Casually, like it was about the weather.
“Hi Asuma,” Itsuki dryly responds. “Orochimaru-sensei said that, to make sure I really did regain my mastery of tree-walking, I’m not allowed to be upright today. Something about how it teaches me to get used to the landscape of Konoha without my sight.”
Asuma hums. “I see.”
They weren’t really close. Asuma was in the generation ahead of Itsuki, after all— they were passing acquaintances at best.
A moment of silence later, Asuma gives up. It’s way too awkward here to cope with being stared at— is that even the right term anymore— by a younger Genin, three inches away, sitting sideways upon the shelves. Like, it’s definitely because of the blindfold, but Itsuki hasn’t stopped facing him for even a second. Asuma’s going to crack from whatever this harassment is.
“Is there a reason you’re in the library?”
“Yes,” Itsuki immediately says, holding out a book about seals, “I have a bit of time before I have to pick up Anko from the Academy and Orochimaru-sensei is in a meeting. And Genma ran away. Read this for me.”
That made so much sense Asuma couldn’t help the extended, “ahhhhhhhh,” of sudden enlightenment that came out of him. “Right. You can’t read anymore.”
“You’re the only chakra signature I recognize in this building.”
“Darn, I knew I should’ve turned back when I passed that black cat on the way here.”
“What, no. If you move the knight there, it’ll be taken by the silver general in two moves.”
“What? No it—” Asuma pauses. Then, “ah. Okay then I’ll move it this way—”
“That rook’s going to be in the way of any good moves you can do.”
“What? Agh, can you be quiet, Itsuki?” Asuma groans, “I can’t do anything like this!”
“Well if you read the book properly you would know your first few moves were already too bad to continue,” Itsuki says, petulantly, holding the shogi strategy book in his hand, “oh, you should move your lance actually.”
“You didn’t read that book!” Asuma snarls. “It’s upside down!”
“No it’s not!” Itsuki whines, and very unsubtly he flipped it around as he argues, “I meant to do that. Anyways can you check this for me?”
“What? Huh. How’d you draw that circle so perfectly?”
Today was apparently ‘if a blind kid can identify you, you kind of deserve babysitting duty’ day, which is why Hyuuga Hizashi is stuck here on the other side of the shogi board, trying to figure out how he ended up here.
Well, he just got back from a mission and wasn’t particularly in the mood to talk politics with the Hyuuga elders, so he wasn’t in a rush to go home.
“Why shogi?” he asks first.
“Shikaku-san challenged me to it but I didn’t know the rules,” Asuma says, checking the basic storage seal drawn on the table against the one in the book back and forth, “so I’m here because I need to shut him up.”
Hizashi did not understand, but whatever.
“And not being able to see the seals you draw may prove inefficient on the field,” he turns to Itsuki, who’s just scribbling the seal on his smaller pieces of paper over and over.
“But if I have them, then I won’t have any trouble with getting caught off guard!” Itsuki says, brightly.
Hizashi resists the urge to say that if he couldn’t escape from this child in this library today while Itsuki was walking sideways across the shelves, then he would be very impressed if any Iwa-nin managed to sneak up on him in the war. But he abstains.
“You messed up here and here,” Asuma peer reviews the seal, taking Itsuki’s hand to point to where the seals were wrong.
“Okayyy…” Itsuki frowns, starting it over, “eh, this would be easier on chalk, because then I’d be able to feel where was wrong and rub them out. He led his hand over the perfect copy Asuma made for him, and Hizashi’s breath holds.
Ink was harder to feel on paper than chalk or coal, but Itsuki followed the pattern easily— because he wasn’t following colours or texture. He had a small thread of chakra running through the seal, so delicately just enough as to not activate it— and he was tracing his fingers across that to memorize it.
Hizashi could see this very well with his Byakugan, but his chakra was so carefully threaded through the seams of the paper that he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. He didn’t think it was possible to deliberately run chakra through a seal with the express intention to not activate it. The chakra required to activate a basic storage seal is so little , after all. Even adults would have a hard time finding that balance— because why would you ever need to achieve something like that?
Is this really a Genin?
He’d always known Itsuki to be a good sensor— his mother had trained him to be just as adept as she was. Hizashi knew that, and yet, it was so difficult to believe that faint thread of chakra, thinner than the silk used to mend their clothes, was woven by a disabled child who had just barely managed to get back on his feet to master water-walking again.
His chakra control is way too perfect.
“Like this?” Itsuki asks, bringing it up to Asuma again.
“Yeah, that’s correct now,” Asuma looks up briefly after picking up a piece on the shogi board. Noticing something about the Silver General in his hands he sighs fondly. “You know this would be much easier for you if seals were like shogi pieces, all carved into wood so you can feel it on the grain.”
There’s definitely seals like that around, but they’re probably in use and not for study.
Itsuki hums, “but if it was like that, who would I bother to check my work?”
“Hey now, don’t test your luck,” Asuma groused, “you’re gonna have to find someone else to harass tomorrow, you know that.”
“Awhhh…”
Hizashi decides that Itsuki’s a child of further interest. Tsunade really missed out not getting this kid into the medics team, but surely she has her hands full with Dan’s niece.
Nevertheless, he moves his lance. “Checkmate, young Sarutobi.”
“Huh?” Asuma balks. “HUH?”
Itsuki claps obnoxiously, “ooooh.”
Hizashi stands, “I have fulfilled my promise of one match. I shall take my leave now,” he announces his departure, gathering up his items. “I am glad to see you recovering well, Itsuki-kun. Do drop by the Hyuuga residence if you ever need guidance.”
Itsuki chuckles bashfully at that, “You’re too kind, Hizashi-san.”
“No, not at all,” Hizashi says, “though, if you meet Hiashi instead of me at the door, I recommend you don’t enter the premises. I don’t guarantee your safety.”
Itsuki giggles, “okay! Thanks for the warning.”
It’s definitely a breath of fresh air. The Hyuuga don’t quite associate with the others in the village, much less Hiashi and Hizashi. This must be such a strange sight to the ANBU stationed around them, but Hizashi couldn’t help but spare a little time for Itsuki, at least.
Even if it was just a little less than a quarter, Itsuki did, in the end, have some Hyuuga blood in him. But he couldn’t take the family name, nor the martial arts, and now, couldn’t even boast the famed sight their clan held with pride.
Hizashi sympathized with his ostracized status, just a little.
“Ah, that’s right,” Itsuki clambers over from the side of the shelf to reach around for Hizashi’s face. He misses and rests his palm on Hizashi’s cheek, to which the man takes away quickly, holding the arm away.
He must have been using his chakra to feel around surfaces, because the tingling pulse of chakra ran an uncomfortable course through Hizashi’s face. Hizashi winces, but doesn’t hold it against the child.
“What did you need?”
Itsuki’s smile didn’t fade, “oh sorry, nothing.”
“What are you drawing, Itsuki?”
“Just something.”
Finding Anko at the Academy after they let out for the day is easy. Itsuki had demolished the swing (the acccursed swing, dear lord, if Itsuki had to stare at Naruto dejectedly sitting on this thing for a whole day because he’s upset again he would rather go drown himself in a lake) and took the wooden plank as his workboard to start a new Fuuinjutsu project.
He hadn’t touched a seal beyond the basics since Orochimaru stuck a Cursed Mark on him last age, so the refresher was a good start. Drawing them was a whole other ordeal, but a bit of practice and the inspiration from the shogi pieces got him somewhere.
All he had to do now was carve out the inner inscriptions of that Hyuuga Cursed Seal Technique he briefly saw when he placed his hands on Hizashi’s face— and he would have somewhere to start.
He’d deal with Orochimaru’s concerned questions later.
“Are we going home?” Anko asks.
“No, Genma said Gai said something. We’re having yakiniku with them.”
“Really? Awesome! Let’s go get Orochimaru-sensei then,” Anko beams, pulling Itsuki and feeling stumped when he doesn’t detached from the tree. “What are you doing? It’s that thing Banba does when he doesn’t want me to pull him off a tree branch.”
“You’ll learn it once you graduate,” Itsuki assures. “Anyways Anko, stay here. Orochimaru-sensei is coming.”
Anko blinks with surprise. Their teacher usually doesn’t come all the way, but on occasions when the timing’s right, he does. Usually they find each other along the road to the lab on those days.
But in just these past weeks, Itsuki has managed to retrain his sensory abilities to detect even the sound and pulse of Orochimaru coming toward them.
It’s rather unsettling.
It’s as if Itsuki’s suddenly so, so far ahead of her, even though he was just stumbling behind her a week ago.
“We don’t have to wait,” Anko reasons. “Orochimaru-sensei doesn’t really like eating yakiniku with the other adults anyways. Banba will tell him where we are.”
Itsuki hums, because he knows that too. Orochimaru hadn’t gone out drinking with anyone other than his students since the Sannin split up, but he’ll never restrain his students from going out to socialize on their own.
“I know, but I think it’s better if both of us don’t leave the academy on our own,” Itsuki holds onto Anko’s shirt, and she whines as she realizes he’s stuck his hand onto her shirt with chakra too, like some kind of birdlime, “it started a bit after I left the library, but I don’t wanna be followed by those guys after the sun sets too.”
Anko pauses in confusion. “What guys? Whe—”
“Hi Orochimaru-sensei,” Itsuki interrupts instead of answering the question.
Anko whirls her head up but Orochimaru’s hand lands on the bridge of her nose first, earning a squeak of surprise as her eyes squeeze shut for a moment.
“Hello Itsuki. Hello, Anko,” Orochimaru greets, his voice light.
Anko’s blood runs cold. Orochimaru’s voice is very specific, in the way that if he sounds pleased in a way that’s laced with the excitement of a good day, something’s wrong. It means their teacher is tense, and maybe eager to teach some impudent fellows a lesson.
The last time Anko heard that tone, there had been missing-nin hidden across the bushes of their mission path, seeking to ambush the Sannin while he was busy watching over half-asleep children while camping outdoors. Those assassins hadn’t even had the pleasure of being eaten whole.
(Why would she hear it in Konoha, where it’s meant to be safe?)
“Would you like to join us for dinner with Chouza-sensei’s team, Orochimaru-sensei?” Itsuki asks. He doesn’t turn his attention away from his wood carving as he asks this— his head neither drifted toward Orochimaru or his work, it just stayed calm and center, his eyes hidden behind a blindfold.
Orochimaru glances to the side as he absent-mindedly answers, “no, I won’t. I have to deal with a host of pest control this evening.”
“Oh dear, that sounds tough.”
“Indeed,” Orochimaru nods, “as I walk you two there, Itsuki, I would like to speak with you regarding the upcoming month of your training. Could you spare me the time?”
Itsuki perks up then, “yes, of course, Orochimaru-sensei. May I walk on the ground now?”
“You may.”
They leave the academy grounds then, Anko trailing behind them utterly confused, because what pests? What pests?? She’s looking around frantically but she can’t for the life of her understand what she’s missing. Banba coils into her arm and simply sighs in her direction, so definitely, she’s not the insane one here.
“So Itsuki, what are your sights for the Chuunin Exam this year?”
Itsuki’s head goes blank.
His Chuunin Exams were so long ago, he can’t for the life of him remember them. Maybe he failed once, or was it twice? But he certainly didn’t remember ever participating in one without Anko.
No wait, he did. He did participate in a Chuunin Exam once without Anko. Darn, how long ago was that? Right.
“If you wish to have more time, I will turn Minato-kun down in your stead. They will understand,” Orochimaru assures.
And it suddenly comes back to Itsuki.
Right .
In the year after Kakashi became a Chuunin, Itsuki was offered to participate in the Chuunin Exams with Obito and Rin. He wouldn’t pass this year, so next year Team Orochimaru will be formed, and in that year, Itsuki finally becomes Chuunin.
So, Itsuki was losing little by skipping this year’s Chuunin Exams, even though he would likely have been looking forward to and preparing immensely for it. No one would even blame him, honestly, he’s impressed Orochimaru even asked.
He felt bad to leave Anko behind, but it would definitely be helpful, in a lot of ways, if he became a Chuunin just a little earlier.
However…
“If I said I wanted to participate this year and pass the test in one year, would you give me a reward?”
Itsuki could tell that Orochimaru was considering this deeply. Maybe if he could look up— and he was, uncomfortably, trying to do so, forgetting he had a whole blindfold on, it’s very hard to resist fussing with it— he would spot Orochimaru glancing toward him.
It takes a while for Orochimaru to say,
“Perhaps. Tsunade has informed me about ‘positive reinforcement’ to be implemented in our training regimen. You may aid me in achieving that quota for the year.”
Itsuki turns and stares at Orochimaru, even through the blindfold, even through the blindness. He just knows where Orochimaru is by the pulse of his chakra adjacent to him and promptly, out of exasperation, simply stares at this person that apparently doesn’t know how to act human if his life depends on it.
“Alright.”
Itsuki gives up. He’s starting to remember why he adores Orochimaru now.
“Then, Orochimaru-sensei,” Itsuki says, brightly, “to motivate me, I need you to kill someone for me! And make it look like an accident. Or at least make it look like you did it but you can’t be punished for it because you’re Orochimaru, coolest problematic Sannin ever.”
Orochimaru’s voice lilts again, a light laughter of surprise escaping him. It’s very similar to his excited laugh of imminent murder— but just a little different, laced with the nervous bewilderment of a sensei feeling fascinated by a child. So, this is a good tone.
“What a surprise. I suppose Tsunade can’t chastise me for this one if it’s a favour from my student.”
That evening at the yakiniku store, Team Chouza is greeted by Itsuki and Anko.
Precisely, they’re greeted by Anko lunging at Ebisu, earning a blood-curdling scream as the snakes—- and Anko too— hiss furiously at the terrified Genin as he scrambles and tries to get the mongrel off him. It doesn’t work.
“Good evening,” Itsuki greets, like that assault by feral child was a normal greeting in this day and age.
“Yo,” Genma returns, similarly nonchalant.
“Good evening!” Gai beams, “I see young Anko is as youthful as ever!”
“I wonder what Ebisu did to get Anko to hate him so much,” Itsuki murmurs as they casually settle into seats, Genma pulling Itsuki to his side of the table so there would be a space for Anko inside and as far away from Ebisu’s seat.
“Oh nah,” Genma chuckles, “I think Ebisu’s just cursed or something. All kids know he’s prime bullying material and go all out. You should’ve seen that time we got the D-rank mission to play with the orphanage kids.”
Itsuki tried to imagine that and honestly, considering Ebisu gets assigned to Konohamaru in the future— maybe his incapability to intimidate children is what makes people pit him against kids all the time. It’s hilarious. He wished he could see it. The sounds Ebisu’s making sounded hilarious enough right now though.
Chouza-sensei stares at the chaos of Ebisu crashing into a table in his attempt to unlodge the screeching reptilian child off his head, and decides that this is above his pay grade.
“Welcome, Itsuki-kun, Anko-chan. Is Orochimaru-sama not with you?”
“Hi Chouza-sensei,” Itsuki bows lightly, “Orochimaru-sensei walked us here. He had to do some pest control, so he left.”
“What?” Genma asks.
“Ah,” Chouza understands immediately, “odd.” He dismisses it though, “well, you two eat up well tonight, it’s my treat.”
“Thank you Chouza-sensei. Don’t mind if we do then—”
Itsuki’s politeness gets interrupted by Gai’s exuberant cheer of, “we’re getting the sauces! Let’s go, Itsuki!”
“Eeek! Gai don’t drag me—!!”
“Oh oops, better go after them,” Genma hustles off his seat, “Gai! Stop that!”
“Anko-chan, come over, you can choose what we’re ordering,” Chouza calls, and Anko systematically unlatches herself from a still-shrieking Ebisu to launch herself across the tables (vaulting over a waitress) and onto the menu in Chouza’s hand.
“I saw a meat tower! Can we order a meat tower?!” she exclaims, excited.
“Yes, yes. No biting Ebisu anymore, though.”
“Okay!”
Dinner was great, if not chaotic, but that’s what Chouza signed up for and he’s revelling in every moment of it.
He finds the wooden plaque Itsuki had been scribbling on as he walked in— and peruses it, curiously. The light carvings were careful, though sketchy, and the carves went deeper as if it was Itsuki making sure that was where the marks went. There’s the traces of chakra running through the sign, and Chouza wasn’t a master at chakra control or sensing, but what he found alarmed him.
Is Orochimaru teaching Itsuki whatever this is? Because it’s edging on a territory of intricacy he’s only seen in high-security scrolls. The penmanship was awful, and yet, it had potential. Itsuki treated it like a doodle, even.
Sure, it isn’t his business, but everything Itsuki’s been doing recently seems fascinating. It’s hard to remember, even with the blindfold, that he’s blind now. There had been an adapting period, but now, Itsuki treated his new impediment like new training— and perhaps, that made it easier for his friends to adapt, too.
It’s odd, but he’s a student of a Sannin, so maybe that’s to be expected.
(Speaking of the Sannin, though, Chouza wondered what pests would be wandering around Konoha even with the ANBU around. If Orochimaru was moving to take them out, he must deem them a threat.)
(But well, if Orochimaru’s dealing with it, then Chouza’s job is to babysit. That works out. He’ll walk the kids home later.)
