Naruto: Tango with Death

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"Try not to annoy the police, they won't be as merciful as me."

I snorted at Izumi's words and replied, "More like they will actually have the ability to do anything to me."

Izumi sighed, "The more I talk to you, the more I want to take a swing at you. Who knew such a cute child could be so demonic."

Grinning, I winked at her, "Yours truly is a unique masterpiece."

Izumi rolled her eyes and walked away, leaving me in the middle of the Uchiha Compound. This clan wasn't the most welcoming to outsiders, but I did not receive any stare, which I attributed to my dark hair.

Actually, without the Sharingan, I looked more like an Uchiha than Izumi did, although I am sure I am not one. Not really sure whether I should be happy or not, as even though this was a universe where the clan lived, and the Sharingan was immensely powerful, it also came with major setbacks, especially to access to it's strongest abilities.

Anyway, following the instructions Izumi had given me, I soon arrived at the Uchiha Clan's Head House. Knocking softly onto the door, I waited for a few seconds before a dark haired woman appeared before me.

It took her a second to lower her eyes to me, and asked, "Oh… You are Sasuke's friend, right?"

I nodded, "Sukaina."

She looked a little awkward as she said, "Sasuke is still at the academy…"

I shook my head and said, "I'm here for Itachi."

The woman, Mikoto Uchiha, grew even more surprised as she asked, "Itachi? You two know each other?"

I nodded and said, "Yes, just tell him the love of his life has come to see him."

Mikoto gasped, lost for words, but then another voice appeared behind her, "It's fine mom, I know her. She's… a demon in human skin."

Itachi appeared behind Mikoto, staring at me seriously, as if he had met his greatest enemy. Clutching my heart through my shirt, I whined, "Emotional damage!"

Meanwhile, Mikoto looked between me and Itachi, going back and forth between the two of us before sighing and walking back inside.

Now left alone, Itachi asked, "What are you doing here?"

I asked with a smile, "Can't I torment you for a while?"

Itachi blinked, his eyes turning into Sharingans as he said, "I'm not afraid to use lethal force to defend myself."

I snorted, flashes of the Uchiha massacre flying through my mind as I said, "Actually, that's why I'm here."

Itachi's eyes turned back to normal, and his wariness increased by another level as he said, "I heard you became a genin."

I nodded and said, "That I did. And it won't be long before I go to my first real mission. For that, there are a few things I would like to learn, but my sensei wasn't really of much help for these things, so I'm turning to outsiders."

Itachi's wariness turned into surprise this time, his tense face relaxing. All those were subtle, but I had learned to read them last time I talked to him. He asked, "You want me to train you?"

At his question, I shook my head and said, "Not necessarily. One of the things my sensei can't teach me is Kenjutsu. The woman who was there when I woke up, Yugao, she had a sword. I want to learn how to use the sword."

Itachi observed me for a few seconds, before saying, "I can introduce you to her if you want… but I'm not sure her swordsmanship would suit you."

Tilting my head, I asked, "What makes you say that?"

Itachi replied, "Not only would she often be unavailable, as she has her own missions and her own training to consider, she is also… in the process of learning."

"So she's not very good."

Itachi kept quiet for a few seconds, not denying me. I shrugged and said, "Even if she isn't very good, she is the best option I have at hand."

Itachi seemed to hesitate for several seconds, something rare from the Uchiha, before he said, "I know someone who may help you… and whose swordsmanship would suit you more, I think."

"How so?"

Itachi replied, "From what I observed, you rely more on quick, precise and sharp attacks to neutralize your opponent, rather than straight out overpower them. Yugao's technique relies more on power than anything."

I shrugged and asked, "Is your acquaintance trustworthy? I don't want to deal with another spy."

Itachi scratched his head, before sighing, "I'm going to regret this… Follow me."

Itachi walked past me, so I turned around and started following him. As I did, I couldn't help but ask, "Shouldn't you tell your family you are going out?"

Itachi did not reply, and instead observed, "You are being polite today."

I shrugged and said, "Because I need your help. Don't worry, I'll return to being your favourite demon once you've helped me."

Itachi mumbled, "I had to ask."

My hands behind my back, I jumped slightly ahead of Itachi, and asked with a cute face, "So, tell me more about yourself handsome."

Itachi once again looked away uncomfortably, "Please refrain from flirting."

I asked with a smile, "Why? Am I making your heart beat irregularly."

To my shock, Itachi actually nodded. In my shock, I tripped, and while I did not fall to the ground, I did lose my balance, forcing me to look a little silly.

Upon regaining my balance, I sent a glance at Itachi, and saw a smile on his lips.

"You little… You learned from me."

Itachi replied, "People call me a genius."

I chuckled and bowed, "Need any help getting down that pedestal?"

Itachi hummed, "I'm feeling great up there."

I smiled, before saying, "You didn't answer me though."

Itachi shrugged, showing much more emotion than I thought possible out of him, possibly because he didn't have to murder his entire clan in this reality, and said, "I am a complex man."

I rolled my eyes and said, "You're like 14…"

"I'm 12."

I retorted, "You do realize this doesn't help you case, right?"

Itachi did not grant me an answer, so I asked, "Well, tell me about your Shinobi life, since that seems to be the only thing we have in common. Excluding the techniques you shamelessly stole from me."

Itachi pointed at his eyes with a deadpan face and said, "It's my clan's speciality."

"Answer the question, dirty thief."

Itachi looked at me in the eyes, before finally answering, "I graduated when I was seven too…"

"Ha! So I'm at the standard of the great Itachi Uchiha! And with an even greater record than yours when you were my age!"

I may be acting, but I was actually somewhat excited. That was Itachi Uchiha, matching up to him did feel great, although I knew inside it didn't mean I was stronger than him.

Itachi proceeded to ignore my interruption as he picked up where he left, "…I became a Chunin when I was 10, and joined Anbu at the same time."

I stared at him, waiting for him to continue, but he ignored my stare, so after a moment I said, "And?"

Itachi once again turned towards me, and asked, "Right, what about you? How is your Genin career going?"

Rolling my eyes, I replied, "Fine… My teammates are in love with me…" Itachi interrupted, "They hate you."

Just like he did earlier, I ignored his interruption, "…and we've mostly been training. Today though, we had our first mission. D Rank, of course. Boring, but it was my first pay. Actually, that makes me think, I have an Uchiha in my team. You know her too."

"Her?"

"Izumi Uchiha."

Itachi seemed surprised for a second, before asking, "She's a nice person, you should try getting along with her."