Chapter 15: Tension

When Itachi awoke and it took him a minute to recall the events of the previous night. They came as a singular rush and grabbed his head. He felt the beginnings of tears forming and felt a forced deep breath. No, now was not the time. There was a knock at the door.

Three very unhappy looking Uchiha greeted Itachi. One of them held a note in his hand. They cut straight to business.

"We're here to inquire about the suicide of Shisui Uchiha," the middle one said. He held out a note for Itachi. "We've already verified this is his handwriting, but there are other things to consider…"

Item Obtained: Shisui's Suicide Note

You'd rather not read it...

"Are you going to tell me why you're actually here?" Itachi asked. He was already walking out, forcing them to move back.

"According to our sources, you were the last one seen with him. Not to mention you both weren't at the meeting last night." The middle man sounded as if he'd had a lot more confidence in his answer moments before. Itachi ignored the growing urge to pause for a moment.

"Are you insinuating that I would murder my best friend?" He asked. "I hope you aren't. Otherwise you may be in trouble yourselves." Just a moment longer.

"This is ridiculous. We're going to take you into custody!" The middle one signalled to his friends. Itachi drew a kunai.

You defeat your opponents with ease.

A text box appeared in front of Itachi. It had been a result of his training and leveling since joining ANBU. His power deemed some enemies too weak, and as a result, he won battles with them automatically.

"How pathetic," he remarked, looking down at the defeated Uchiha, "he was right. This clan is dooming itself."

"Itachi!" Fugaku made his appearance. His tone was a warning one. Itachi submitted to his power. He took a deep breath, and his mind became calm once more.

"I was defending myself. A few flimsy pieces of evidence is not enough to warrant my arrest. Had they talked to me, I would have been happy to cooperate," Itachi explained. "I'll leave them be." He turned and began walking towards the hokage tower to get a mission.

"Hey, you can't do this to us!" The apparent leader of the group called out to Itachi. He wasn't going to let him just walk away after an assault. Itachi's head snapped back to face them. His Mangekyou was whirling into existence.

"I'd advise against that, sir," Itachi said, placing a heavy emphasis on the last word. Even from a good distance away he could see them shaking. It wouldn't be that hard to dispose of them if they continued on like this. Policemen who didn't follow protocol were not fit to serve.

"Nii-san!" A voice called out. The tension in the air dissipated like a swarm of bees in the midst of smoke. Itachi's anger vanished. It was Sasuke.

"Forgive me," he said. He had fallen to his knees and his head was pressed against the earth. It was a request. "I am a bit distraught at the news." Fugaku was at his side in an instant.

"Leave." He commanded. "Itachi has many responsibilities to deal with and I'm afraid he's been pushing himself." The three men didn't need any more convincing and left.

"Otou-san…" Itachi said.

"I'm disappointed in your behaviour, Itachi." It was all he said before he turned and walked towards the police station. Sasuke assaulted Itachi's waist.

"What's wrong? I don't want you to be like this Nii-san." He had his face buried into Itachi's leg. He reached down and picked him up.

"I'm sorry you had to see that Sasuke." He said, turning him to look him in the eyes. "Shisui's death has hurt me."

"What can I do to make it better? What can I do to take away the hurt?" Sasuke asked. He was pleading.

"Sasuke…" Itachi said. He'd recoiled at the words.

"I don't like seeing you unhappy Nii-san. I want to help you, like all the times you helped me." Sasuke wiped the tears from his eyes and looked at Itachi with a sense of determination burning in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke, but this is my problem. It can't be "made better" in a day. It'll be dealt with in time. I don't want you to carry this with you." Itachi explained. He hugged Sasuke close and whispered to him. "I'll get better, I promise. For right now, the best you can do is keep being happy. It's what you can do to help."

"Okay Nii-san!" Sasuke said. He put on a giant smile. "I'll just smile all the time until you're all better, even if it takes an entire year!" He proclaimed. Itachi smiled back and hugged him harder.

"Thank you." He set Sasuke down. "Now I'm going to go take care of some things with the hokage. I'll be back soon." Sasuke gave a single nod and ran off back towards the house. Itachi went to the hokage tower.

"I'm sorry for the loss of Shisui. I knew he meant a lot to you." Hiruzen said. His usually worn face managed to display a deeper sorrow. Itachi took a deep breath.

"It is unfortunate." Itachi commented. He'd mourn later. "However, there is something that troubles me more. Shisui had commented that he was on his way to resolve the coup when he was attacked."

"Ah yes…" Hiruzen took a long drag from his pipe. "He informed me of his plan. Even more unfortunate that someone opposed it."

"Lord hokage," Itachi said, "the perpetrator in the attack on Shisui was Danzo. He stole one of his eyes."

"I was afraid of that," Hiruzen said. "However, my hands are tied. Danzo is a trusted among the other councilmembers. An accusation from the accused would not go over well. Nor can I intervene as your father has labeled this strictly as a family affair." He explained.

"I… understand." The commentary had stung Itachi more than he wanted to admit. Hiruzen gave him a look of pity.

"Perhaps if you can get your name cleared in the case then I may be of more assistance. But as it stands I cannot interfere. It would cause a great many more problems than it would solve. This is part of the burden that comes with being Hokage."

Hearing the words of your elder has increased your WIS by one

"Thank you for your wisdom Lord Hokage, now I must go try to sort this out." Hiruzen gave him a nod of acknowledgement, and Itachi was off. He began wandering in the general direction of the Uchiha compound.

It wasn't fair. The Hokage was the one person he had left and he'd failed him. No, that's not true. He gave an explanation to his actions. It could be a disaster if the Hokage meddled in something he shouldn't. Besides, he needed his name cleared in Shisui's suicide. HE could try to talk to his father in the matter afterwards.

Somehow he felt like Fugaku would be unwilling to help. He already wasn't happy with him and trying to get him to move on this issue would probably cause more aggravation. He'd have to wait on that. So then what could he do?

Danzo. That was the problem. He needed some way to get Danzo implicated in the crime. He could try to find evidence. No, the only evidence would be Shisui's eye, and that could he'd have an explanation, one that would worsen the situation.

Itachi silenced his thoughts. None of them were helping. He was sure there was a solution, like with the mystery case. He'd just have to look at it closely until one became apparent. Until then he'd have to go play Uchiha word games to get himself cleared of charges.

Itachi stopped walking. No, the Gamer's Mind had kicked in too many times that day. He began his return to the hokage tower. He'd go on a mission. Seeing the numbers for his XP go up would give him a sense of accomplishment.

He'd come back later. He could already feel his mind threatening to slip back into the infinite trains of thoughts he'd just come out of. He didn't need this right now. He needed time away from the problem.

He burst through the doors of the tower and requested about a half dozen missions. He got a curious look and a shrug before being handed some appropriate level missions. He mashed his way through the multitude of prompts and headed out.

His mind automatically planned out his route. He'd be back in about a week. Perfect. He gave a backwards glance at the village, mainly towards his house, where Sasuke was. He'd have to make it up to him on his return. But for right now, he needed to get away from it all.