Chapter Seven
It was the last day of the school year for Academy students before their month-long break. That meant that Itachi would soon be working longer hours to keep up with Naruto all day.
When school let out, Naruto was even more hyper than usual, clearly excited for his time off. Itachi decided to take him to the training field to let him burn off some energy. He taught him a few of the basic taijutsu techniques his class would be learning in his second year, then let him go to town on a training dummy. Finally, he did the impossible and wore the boy out. The two sat down against one of the three large wooden posts at the edge of the field.
"I'm starving." Naruto complained.
As had become their routine, Itachi handed him some of his field rations, which today consisted of a pouch of beef jerky. Naruto eagerly dug in.
"Don't you want some, Weasel-nii-san?" he asked, waving a piece in front of Itachi.
"Is this another play to get me to take my mask off?" Itachi asked knowingly.
"Come on! You're my only friend in the whole world, and I don't even know what you look like!" the six year old exclaimed.
Itachi felt a pang of guilt. He knew Naruto had grown attached to him, and he felt bad having to lie to him.
"I'm sorry, Naruto. I can't disobey my orders."
"I figured." Naruto sighed.
After being relieved that evening, Itachi went to the Hokage's office instead of going home.
"It's good to see you, Itachi." Sarutobi greeted cheerfully, "What can I do for you?"
"I need to make a request, Hokage-sama. I want permission to tell Naruto who I am."
"I see," Sarutobi said, stroking his beard, "I thought this might happen at some point."
"If he's going to trust me, I shouldn't be hiding something from him as simple as my name and face."
The Hokage smiled, "I'm glad you feel that way. Permission granted."
"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Itachi said with a bow.
"Thank you for taking this assignment as seriously as you have."
It was true than when Itachi had first been given this mission, he had been somewhat less than enthusiastic. He had been concerned that it meant his superiors were not confident in his ability to operate in combat. However, he now fully understood Naruto's importance to the village. Beyond that, Itachi may not have been willing to admit it, but Naruto was not the only one who had grown attached.
The next day, Naruto did not emerge from his apartment until just before noon, apparently taking full advantage of the opportunity to sleep in. Itachi was waiting.
"You're still here, Nii-san?" Naruto asked, surprised.
"Of course. I'm not in the Academy anymore. I don't get a summer break." Itachi answered.
"Does that mean we get to hang out all day?"
"If you want to."
"Awesome!" cheered Naruto.
Itachi chuckled, "Come with me. I have a surprise for you."
"Really? What kind of surprise?"
"You'll see."
Itachi led Naruto to a wooded area near the village's south wall and set down the backpack he had brought with him. He pulled out two bento boxes.
"Lunch!" Naruto exclaimed happily.
"Listen, Naruto. Do you remember what we talked about last night?"
"Um… Not really." replied Naruto sheepishly.
"You wanted me to take my mask off."
"Oh! Yeah, I remember!"
"Well, I talked to the Hokage about it. He decided to let me tell you who I am."
"No way! Really?!"
"Really. But it's very important that you promise you will never tell anyone."
"I promise." Naruto answered, looking like he was about to explode with excitement.
Itachi gave a nod, and slipped his mask off.
Naruto looked surprised, "Whoa… You're way younger than I thought."
Itachi smiled, "I get that a lot. I'm thirteen."
"You're thirteen and already in ANBU? That's so cool! You're just like Sasuke's brother!"
"Actually, I am Sasuke's brother. My real name is Itachi Uchiha."
Naruto looked stunned for a moment before suddenly bursting into laughter, "Sasuke talks about you all the time! He'd never believe that I've been hanging out with you!"
Itachi got an idea, "What if I brought him with me tomorrow? Would that be alright?"
"Yeah! That'd be fun!"
"Then it's a plan."
That night, Itachi spoke to Sasuke. He was not sure how he would feel about his older brother spending so much time with one of his classmates, even if he no longer detested Naruto.
"I have something to tell you, Otouto." Itachi began, "You know I've had an assignment in the village for a long time now."
Sasuke nodded.
"My mission has been to protect someone very important to the village, someone you know."
"Who?"
"Naruto Uzumaki."
"Naruto?" Sasuke asked, confused, "Why's he important to the village?"
"That's a secret only the Hokage is allowed to tell. I'm going to be with Naruto most days during your break because that's my mission, but I thought you might want to come with me. That way we could spend more time together, and you could play with Naruto. Is that something you would want to do?"
"I'd get to go with you during your mission, Aniki?" Sasuke asked excitedly.
"Yes, but you couldn't tell anyone that."
"I won't! I wanna go!"
Over the course of the next month, Sasuke accompanied Itachi nearly every day. He and Naruto butted heads often, but it was clear that, no matter how much they denied it, they were quickly becoming best friends. Itachi often helped the two of them train. He found that they worked much harder and learned much faster when they were competing against each other. It seemed that a little healthy rivalry was good for them. Itachi looked forward to their instructors' reactions when they returned to school so far ahead of their classmates.
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Chapter end notes: I know that the story has been pretty slow up until now, but I promise things will start to get more interesting in the next chapter. If you've stuck with me until now, you're awesome and you deserve a cookie. Please review!