INTERLUDE (3)

KONOHA​

Inoichi was in a state of perpetual confusion.

He couldn't say he particularly enjoyed the feeling.

One might respond to this by stating it was near-impossible to not encounter situations or subjects, that would seem beyond his understanding in his line of work. And the Yamanaka Patriarch would be hard-pressed to disagree with this sentiment. It was a fact he had learned to grow accustomed to after so many years in service after all.

But Sasuke…

Uchiha Sasuke…

The boy was an anomaly.

A paradox. One that seemed perfectly normal on a surface level but got ever more strange and aberrant the deeper you tried to peer into his life.

Inoichi took a step back from the dense, six-meter-tall evidence wall in front of him. It contained so much yet so little of actual value. Thousands of pictures, snippets of texts, Fūinjutsu seals, maps, and reports littered the wall; more than enough information to detail a normal person's existence to the T. More than enough to give a weaker man an aneurysm. It gave him a headache. A rather throbbing one indeed.

Absolutely nothing about this case made sense.

Powerful computers whirred strenuously in the background, hard at work decoding a cypher that had spent about five years under the scrutiny of Konoha's best. One would assume that the child who devised such a complex, esoteric thing and had shown such prodigious talent in cryptography would be very passionate about it, taking great pride in their craft; yet all the evidence available claimed otherwise. Asides from a single written request to join the Intelligence Division―a request that had been immediately shot down by the council due to security concerns―the boy made no further moves to pursue a career in that regard, treating the entire affair with a rather careless, whimsical attitude.

It would have pacified Inoichi if the boy was the type to be irresolute and willing to give up in the face of the slightest opposition, but, again, evidence claimed otherwise. It was almost as if the boy took one glance at the rejection letter that was delivered to him and decided at that moment they weren't worth his time before promptly forgetting about the matter altogether.

The Yamanaka patriarch shot a glance at the section of the wall detailing the boy's psychological analysis. He disliked miring himself in that segment of their investigation. It was like quicksand, the moment you touch it it seemed to want to swallow you whole. It was the region most populated with inconsistencies and anomalies.

For example, according to the data gathered, Uchiha Sasuke was a friendly, charismatic and personable child who carried himself with a maturity far beyond his age. All good traits to expect from the scion of a noble clan of course, except it just ought not to be. Not in this case at least.

Following the Uchiha massacre, there were widespread expectations for the boy to grow to become a sombre recluse. There were expectations for him to exhibit all the tell-tale signs of psychological scarring. There were expectations for the boy to be unable to form reliable connections with his peers without guidance from a strong figure of authority, one that would aid him along the path of recovery and realignment with Konoha's social doctrine. History had shown that traumatic incidents of the scale he endured were not easily brushed aside and forgotten. But aside from a few weeks of mopery, Konoha witnessed a rebound much unlike anything it has ever seen before.

It was almost as if the boy had forgotten entirely about the misfortune that befell his clan.

That was impossible of course. The boy himself seemed to go out of his way to remind the village about the incident. Everything from elaborate private memorials costing tens of thousands of ryo each to host, to sacred annual visitations to the Naka shrine to offer prayers, to even his dressing―with an insistence to stick with the traditional Uchiha attire rather than the newer fashion sense that most of his generation prefered. The boy was the textbook definition of filial piety. He was the one the other villagers would point to when they scolded their own children for being disrespectful. Or lazy. Or talentless. Or ugly. Or any other number of negative traits.

A role model.

That in itself was odd.

Inoichi sensed someone entering the room.

"Aoba?" he asked, shooting a sideways glance at the newcomer.

"Leader-san, we have succeeded in tracking down Uchiha Sasuke's missing funds," the Tokubetsu Jōnin announced as he came to a stop by the Yamanaka patriarch's side.

Inoichi smiled at the sunglasses-donning shinobi with his spiky, black hair. "Finally! A good lead!" he said. "I take you've already compiled a comprehensive report I can give the council so I can get them off my back?"

"We are working on it, sir," Aoba replied, before adding hesitantly. "Although I doubt the information would prove useful in that regard, sir…"

Inoichi's heart dropped. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"...Apparently, Sasuke donated the entirety of the liquid assets that made up his inheritance to an organisation in the Land of Waves to help rebuild the country shortly after being discharged from the hospital. We have already done our financial analysis and have confirmed that the boy would not be in any way inconvenienced by this donation, so the logic behind the decision checks out; his projected earning from completing his mission assignments should just be enough to keep him buoyant for the foreseeable future. And that's not taking into account any future increase in earnings should he advance up the ranks.

"As for the organisation he donated to, we have tracked it down and begun a preliminary investigation on them. As for what we know now, the organisation is headed by one Jinrui Tanaka, younger brother to another Kaiza Tanaka. The older brother, Kaiza, was a travelling fisherman touring the lands in search of new opportunities when he arrived at the Land of Waves and settled down, marrying one Tsunami Tanaka, then a widowed mother of one and the only child of Tazuna, the architect in charge of constructing the bridge connecting the Land of Waves and Fire.

"Both Kaiza and Tazuna were murdered at the behest of Gato of the Gato company as they were impeding his plot to take over the country. Jinrui arrived sometime after Gato's demise to take responsibility for his deceased brother's new family. There are rumours of the man having an affair with his brother's widow which would explain a lot regarding this particular case, but we've been unable to confirm this. Also, according to what little intel we have on the man he seems to have some shinobi background. Although we couldn't say for certain what his allegiances are, we haven't ruled out the possibility of him being a sleeper agent given background information on the man is seemingly nonexistent.

"Regardless, Jinrui seemed to have taken a keen interest in the welfare of the Land of Waves, having purchased all of Gato's remaining assets, rehired most of the billionaire's essential workforce, and had taken over financing the construction of the bridge that Tazuna died building. To fund this rapid expansion, he had also started an initiative soliciting financial support from the surrounding countries; his men have been spotted all the way east to the Land of Wind requesting aid in any form or manner from anyone who would listen to assist in rebuilding the Land of Waves, although their success would be considered irregular at best."

Inoichi sighed. "Let me guess, Sasuke stumbled upon one of these men soliciting aid, and having personally witnessed the misfortune that befell the Land of Waves decided to donate his family inheritance to their cause. An inheritance which, although impossibly hard to ignore, he just so happened to have no use for at the moment?"

"Yes, leader-san," Aoba nodded grimly. "That would be the case. I personally checked his ANBU handler's logbook for the day this might have occurred and it confirmed that such was the case."

"... So, depending on how we looked at this matter, it could be very suspicious, yet not at all. Ambiguous. Frankly, I would have to be particularly paranoid to believe that a boy who had been beyond the Land of Fire's borders only once had somehow already found contacts reliable enough―in another country―to be trusted with such valuable assets. But, I doubt the council would see reason; they rarely did when it came to matters concerning the boy." Inoichi sighed again. "Preemptively begin an in-depth investigation into this Jinrui fellow. We both know we would be forced to do so anyways, no point pushing the matter to a later date. Also, how are the local lords reacting to these changes?"

"Oh, they love it," Aoba replied, pushing his shade up the bridge of his nose. "Jinrui seems to be really conscious about how he deals with them, always making sure to find a way they benefit from his endeavours, either monetarily wise or just better political clout. They have very little reason to impede him in any way."

Inoichi sighed again. "Please have the full report on my desk before the end of the day."

"Yes, sir!"

***​

Water dripped eerily from the tips of the stalactites hanging from the ceiling above, the tinkling noise of their collision with the stone floor echoing through the silent cavern.

Itachi looked around at the near-transparent silhouette of his fellow Akatsuki members refracting an array of spectral colours, much like a rainbow. Their bodies were distorted and flickered as if receiving electronic interference, and when Pein spoke his voice was altered the same way.

"It's been seven years since we all gathered like this," the Rinnegan-bearing spectre intoned. "Orochimaru is still a nuisance and we've lost another member. Itachi… you failed … Should we be concerned about your little brother?"

"No," Itachi replied calmly. "He caught us by surprise, that's all."

"He killed Kisame," Konan interjected.

"...He is my brother and is apparently more talented than I am. That shouldn't be too surprising, no?"

No one spoke.

"You need not worry about the boy; it is me he wants dead. Besides, I crippled him before Konoha's ANBU could intervene. I doubt he would prove troublesome for a while yet."

"Orochimaru is after the boy's eyes; should he acquire them he might prove himself a nuisance to our plans."

"I doubt Orochimaru can handle Sasuke even as he is now―"

"You seem awfully defensive of this brother of your's Itachi," Kakuza interrupted in an entirely offhanded manner. "Is there something you aren't telling us?"

"Stop this," Pein ordered before Itachi could reply. "We'll kill Orochimaru eventually. And should this Sasuke boy prove to be troublesome we will kill him too. We have other things to worry about other than those two. There are only three years left for us to bring order and peace to the shinobi world. Asides from Itachi who is now short a partner, I want to believe everyone else can accomplish the task required of them... Good. Then, you are all dismissed. As for you Itachi, I would find a replacement to find Kisame's role; please try not to get them killed again..."