Chūnin Exams (III).

"We still have a few hours until we need to continue, so why don't you sleep a bit more? I understand that you must be nervous about the upcoming exams, but not getting enough sleep will not help you in any way."

The young boy looked at him from the other side of the small campfire. "I don't tend to sleep more than six hours a night, Sensei. Even if I lay down right now, I wouldn't be able to find any sleep. My body just isn't used to it." He seemed to consider something for a moment before he came to some sort of conclusion. "But you might want to rest for a few hours. You look tired. We can keep watch instead."

Akihito laughed softly, slightly uncomfortable with the perspective look the Uchiha was sending him. "Thank you, but I already got enough sleep." 'And enough nightmares for one night as well.'

Honestly, he would like to a few more hours of restful sleep, but he knew that that was a fruitless venture. He had had nightmares for many years now, but ever since the last war, they increased so much that it made it hard to find more than four hours of sleep per night. It didn't affect his work in the field yet, so he was willing to ignore the problem for now. Konoha had few enough shinobi as it was, the last thing the village needed was one of their Jōnin taking absence from active duty for something irrelevant like this. He would retire soon anyway, so the least thing he could do to endure some harmless dreams for a little bit longer.

Itachi tilted his head while tossing some more food to the side to feed the crows that were already waiting. "If you say so, Sensei."

The crows had joined them -with which he meant not only his team but the other two Konoha teams that had been qualified for the exams and joined them on this journey as well- only a few hours after they took off from Konoha. Under different circumstances, he might have been concerned about his student's chakra being consumed by so many summons and demanded that he released the technique no matter how much of an advantage the additional eyes in the sky might be, but this was different. Itachi hadn't summoned them, they just appeared by themselves.

He had explained to them that his crows had no 'home' like some other summons did and many of them simply chose to stay close to him instead of randomly traveling the world, meaning he didn't need to waste chakra to keep them here. Nobody could argue about their usefulness, but they were still a little bit scary and Akihito could see that the Genins from the other teams were uncomfortable with their presence.

He didn't fault them; it was always disconcerting to see human-like intelligence in the eyes of animals.

"When did you start sleeping for only six hours? A boy your age usually requires more sleep than that, much less one younger than you are now."

Itachi looked up again. "I think around the time I was four," he said with only the barest hint of hesitation. "But it might have been even earlier."

He threw a fast glance around to make sure that no one else was awake and close enough to listen to their conversation. The boy would surely not appreciate being overheard while talking about something as sensible as what he planned to address.

Of course, he would have probably noticed if someone close by was awake anyway, but still.

"Around the time you were four, huh? You know that I've read your file, right?" He didn't wait for a response before continuing. "If I remember correctly, that is around the time when you accidentally landed on a battlefield, isn't it? Does your sleep rhythm have anything to do with that?"

Maybe he was a bit too blunt, but he didn't think the slower, more gentle way would work well with the boy. This way, he wagered his chances of getting through to him were much higher.

Akihito didn't really know what he had expected, but the complete lack of reaction had certainly not been it. He had known that he couldn't expect an overly emotional reaction, Itachi acted way too calm and mature for that, but he thought he would at least see something in his body language that he could interpret. Instead, there was nothing, only a calm, neutral face looking back at him without any sign of anything. Akihito had been in the ANBU and was trained to read people like open books; this either meant that the boy wasn't hiding anything or, more unbelievable, he was able to hide his emotions so well that he couldn't read him. This thought was actually rather terrifying.

"I'm not ashamed to admit that I have nightmares if that's what you're getting at, Sensei," the boy replied easily with a slight undertone of curiosity.

He stopped himself from raising an eyebrow at that readily given admission, keeping the open and warm expression on his face that he had put on at the start of the conversation. "That is good, but it is obviously still bothering you enough to disturb your sleep. I have an open ear if you're willing to talk with me about them."

For a split second, he could see something in his eyes, but upon realizing what exactly it was, his confusion grew only bigger. Why was he amused of all things? He didn't say anything funny, did he?

"Thank you for the offer, but I already have people I can talk to about them. I don't think adding you to that list would change anything." He tilted his head to the side. "What about you, Sensei? You participated in the last war yourself, didn't you? Your age matches. Are it nightmares that keep you awake at night as well?"

He had anticipated that he might end up talking about his own problems, but not like that. Maybe as a way to demonstrate that he could understand what Itachi was going through, to make him open up, but not because of a correct assumption made by the boy in front of him. He didn't feel like talking about them himself, to be honest, but he owed his student the truth after he had been this open to him.

"Indeed. I fought actively in it for a long time and took part in some rather gruesome fights. There are enough ugly pictures in my head to supply my nightmares for a lifetime."

"I only saw one battle, and I didn't actively fight in it, but it still disturbed me for a long time." Itachi looked at him with oddly thoughtful eyes. "I assume the usual methods of coping told to veterans didn't help?"

"You know the usual methods they tell veterans?" Akihito asked, ignoring the by now familiar feeling of talking with an adult instead of a child.

Itachi shrugged. "My father told me about them to help me sleep back then."

Oh, he very much doubted his father had told him all of them. After all, there were a few methods that just weren't fit for children, no matter how mature or what they have seen.

Itachi must have interpreted his silence as a yes because he started speaking again. "I found that it helps me sleep to read before going to bed, especially poetry and philosophy. Sometimes I even write something myself. Maybe you could try this as well?"

Once finished, he turned around to continue feeding the crows, making it clear that their conversation was over.

Akihito wasn't sure how he should react in that situation, but he felt like laughing; he had started this conversation to potentially help his student overcome his nightmares and ended up getting advice himself. Oh, the irony!

But, well, he might try to use that trick once they arrived in Iwagakure. After all, where was the harm? And wouldn't it be amusing if it turned out that such a simple thing given to him by a seven years old was the solution to his problem?

Yes, laughing was definitively the correct reaction.