Chapter 4: Fallout

After all was said and done with Itachi's date, it was later than he had expected it to be. He had already dropped off Izumi at her house and was heading back towards his home. A long discussion was expected with Fugaku upon his arrival, something Itachi was still not looking forward to. Maybe if he was lucky, Shisui would stop him for another talk.

"There's the adorable lovebird!" Itachi sometimes wondered about Shisui. He always pulled stunts like this.. "Why wasn't I invited on your little excursion? You know how much I love dango." Maybe talking to Fugaku wouldn't be so bad.

"I apologize, Shisui. Izumi asked me out on a date, and it is considered poor form to invite other people." Itachi told him.

"So it was a date?" Shisui asked. "But aren't those 'not for someone of your age,' Itachi?" Shisui had an extraordinary memory, and yet he insisted on wasting it on information to use against Itachi..

"Shisui, that was a year ago when you asked me about it. Besides, it was Izumi who called it a date." Itachi explained. "There's a lot that can change in such a span of time." He resumed his walk back towards his house.

"Come on Itachi, why so serious?" Shisui whined, running to catch up to him. "You know I wouldn't ever want to get between you and Izumi. I mean, have you seen how cute you two are together?" Itachi did his best to avoid blushing, but he might as well have tried to hide the fact he was an Uchiha.

"You leave us alone!" Itachi yelled. He took a deep breath. "It isn't nice to pry into the affairs of others. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to return to my house."

"Oh no you don't, Itachi." Shisui cut him off. "You haven't revealed the village's secrets to me. There's got to be something interesting to share."

"There was nothing. It was just a basic mission, that is all." Itachi said. He liked being with Shisui, despite his teasing, but he only really wanted to talk with Fugaku on the matter.

Deception's level has increased by one.

Itachi was growing to despise the text box's sense of timing for such things. He flicked it away with a thought.

"Ah, alright then." Shisui said. He knew when enough was enough, and gave his goodbye. "Well, see you around then. Say hi to your parents and Sasuke for me!" He vanished, leaving Itachi alone to finish walking home.

He gave pause for a moment. He'd been a bit, preoccupied with accomplishing his goals, and it'd hurt his friendships. Izumi, of course, had come to him and told him straight out about his wrong, or at least, that's what the text boxes had told him.

But Shisui, Shisui was different. He was actually rather polite and would probably never bring it up with him. He felt bad that he'd chased him off so quickly. Perhaps he'd have to spar with him in his next span of free time.

Through addressing that your behaviour requires amendments, your Wisdom increases by one.

As Itachi had learned over the years, it never hurt to stop and think about things sometimes. His only regret in this case is that he didn't exactly have the time to make it up to Shisui today, nor did he even know where he went if he had the time.

But there was no use in trying to do something he couldn't. So Itachi just returned home. It didn't take him long, and his arrival was greeted by a happy Sasuke.

"Nii-San! You're home!" He ran up to Itachi, who picked him up.

"Sorry I'm late, Izumi wanted to spend some time with me." Itachi said.

"You should do a better job of keeping your girlfriend happy." Sasuke told him. Not him too… Itachi should really try to keep better tabs on who Sasuke hung out with.

"Welcome home, Itachi. Your father isn't back from work yet," said Mikoto as she joined them. Itachi gave a small bow towards her as he put Sasuke down.

"Hello, Oka-san." he said. "I've returned from a successful day as an ANBU operative."

"Please, save that for your father." She scolded him. "But I'm glad your first day went well."

"Nii-san, Nii-san!" Their conversation was cut short by Sasuke tugging on Itachi's shirt. "Guess what happened today in the academy!"

"Hm…" Itachi mock thought aloud for a few moments.

Sasuke is unconvinced by your actions.

Itachi couldn't help it. There was very little he'd keep hidden from him willfully.

"Come on, I know you know." Sasuke said.

"Alright, Sasuke. Today was sparring day, wasn't it? Who did you win against?" Itachi asked, dropping his false ignorance.

"It was Naruto, the loud mouth kid who thinks he's so great. You should have seen him when he lost." Sasuke let the information pour out of him. Itachi frowned slightly.

"How well did he fight?" He asked.

"Well…" Sasuke thought for a moment. "He tried really hard, but he wasn't a match for me." He saw Itachi's disappointment and quickly added, "but he fought well. His passion was unmatched today." The shift in tone was indicative of Sasuke trying to act like Itachi when he was formal.

"That's good, Sasuke." Itachi told him. And fortunately for Itachi, Fugaku opened the door.

"I have returned from my long day at work-" He cut himself off when he saw Itachi. "Hello, I didn't expect you to be home this early, Itachi."

"Otou-san" Itachi greeted him before responding. "Today was an introductory mission. I was done early, but spent some time with Izumi before returning home."

"You are an Uchiha." Thinly veiled discontent plagued his voice. "Did they doubt your abilities?"

"No, Otou-san. It was a given that I would excel." It wasn't a lie exactly, which made Itachi a bit uneasy. He didn't know anything about Fugaku's stats, so there was a very real chance he'd see through it.

"So why did they give you such a trivial assignment?" He demanded.

"As my partner told me, it was standard procedure. I'm certain that tomorrow I will be assigned to something more appropriate for an Uchiha." Itachi said. His father took a few moments to process the information.

"What did they have you do?" He asked. Now came the part Itachi was dreading. The incident with the shop owner would come up, and Itachi was not looking forward to explaining it to Fugaku.

"We ran a short patrol of the village as an assessment of my stealth. I met their expectations with no issue." Itachi answered. He knew Fugaku's next question, but he was still going to try and delay the inevitable.

"Did anything happen during this assessment?" Itachi had guessed correctly. He took a deep breath to calm himself.

"There was an incident with a person refusing to pay at a restaurant. We intervened." Itachi paused for a moment. "It would have fallen to the Police Force, but the owner was adamant in not contacting them."

"I see…" His father said. He thought for a great while before giving a follow up. "So the distrust of the Uchiha is spreading more amongst civilians, and it's making them more hesitant to contact us for help. I will have to get more patrols out to ensure we can still keep the peace. Thank you, Itachi."

"Otou-san?" Sasuke, who had been respectfully quiet, suddenly spoke up. "Why don't people like the Uchiha?" He asked. Mikoto's voice saved Fugaku from answering..

"Dinnertime! Who wants Teriyaki chicken and rice?" She asked.

"I do, Oka-san!" Sasuke said, his eyes wide in delight, and his question forgotten at the prospect of food. Itachi couldn't be sure, but Fugaku seemed to be relieved that the question was deflected.

Dinner was more or less a set affair. It was always the same. Itachi's mother would tell them dinner was ready, the table would be set, and they'd take their places. The food would be brought out, thanks would be given, and then they'd eat in silence.

Afterwards, the dishes for the meal would be cleaned by Itachi and Sasuke while Fugaku retired to his study to deal with work and Mikoto relaxed. This dinner was no different. It was characteristically Uchiha in how it was treated. Precise, and done in defined, well-established steps.

Itachi enjoyed doing the dishes, and like many other aspects of his life, his power reflected this. He'd accrued a large number of levels for his skill, Dish Cleaning.

Dish Cleaning's level has increased by one.

Right on time, as it always was when Itachi made predictions on when his next level up would come. He attributed it to his rather high Intelligence. It towered above the average person, in part thanks to his Prodigy trait.

Itachi's mind wandered to his new job. On the way home, he'd seen that he was only a few experience points from reaching Level 9. He was excited to have more points to work with on his general stats, and he was grateful as he was already feeling his free time slip away from him, mostly because of his job.

But just like that, the dishes were done, and Sasuke excused himself. Itachi was glad that he had other things to do tonight. Between his job, being with Izumi, and talking to his father, there was nothing more that he wanted to do than go to bed right now.

Exhaustion had nothing to do with it. He couldn't get physically tired thanks to his power. But still, there was only so much activity Itachi could deal with in any given day. So it was he bid Sasuke and his mother and father good night. Itachi was grateful for their understanding, and went to his room, falling swiftly into a peaceful sleep.