"That's okay… Just as long as we can be together sometimes." — Itachi Uchiha.
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Itachi let out a sigh of relief, something he has been doing with worrying frequency as of late, at the completion of eight months of strenuous work spurred by the spine of a hasty but genius innovation that was the brainchild of his, Tessai and Kisuke's frustrated mutterings.
The barrier was a simple one, in description only, but its work was an intricate flow of the broken down parts of dozens of Kidō spells that was crafted into a new one with matching complexity, with every facet of its setup being to ward against any level of perception.
Itachi still wondered how Tessai and Kisuke had come up with such a grand scale Kidō spell in such a short time. Not only did it block out perception from any dimension, it also warded against any scrying abilities and since it was intent-action-based, it also registered every instance of attempted spying in any part of the Seireitei and would try tracing its origin if it stayed for long.
As for if this impeded Itachi or his crows in any way, no it didn't. As both the Kidō Corps and the Research and Development Institute had backdoors into the warding system as they were part of the Seireitei's security systems, so also did Itachi had a complete backdoor into the wards as he personally was also one of the Seireitei's security system.
There was also the added fun fact that the soul-based nature of his Sharingan allowed him to systematically break through the barriers in the time it was being set up.
The revelation had stumped Kisuke and Tessai who held doubts that someone similar to Itachi could do the same thing to the barrier but Itachi assured them that unless the infiltrator had a natural ability that wasn't a Shinigami, Quincy, Fullbring, Hollow, or any other soul-related race ability, then they wouldn't be able to break through the wards, or at least not silently.
His little assurance however had the unfortunate effect of stoking the curiosity of the overworked men who then started probing about the nature of his eyes.
Unlike every other soul being, his eyes weren't an effect of some Fullbring or Zanpakutō ability. They were part of who the identity of 'Itachi' was and were not some mutation of his Reiatsu.
Honestly, their existence, as well as his, wasn't one he fully understood as he'd stopped trying to a long time ago. It was a mystery he was content with not knowing.
And in letting go about knowing a vital part of his new existence, he had unknowingly created a platform for the biggest changes in his life.
In a matter of practicality, Itachi would call his life after his death one huge experience of stumbling around in the dark and grabbing hold of anything he could find as intimate support.
"I've read your reports. Good job." Yamamoto said with a frail grunt, one that was natural to old people his age… or at least those who looked like him.
"And how secure do you think it is?"
That was somewhat of a tricky question as a definite estimate would depend on data it'd gotten in preventing enemy spying, of which there wasn't any except his.
"Quite." Itachi replied. They had more than a moderate amount of faith in the barrier despite its untested history. "As much as we want to claim a perfect defense, we can't because we can't account for every obscure means our enemies might use."
Yamamoto clearly did not like that reply as his eyes squinted at Itachi. "You reassure me in one breath and claim uncertainty in the other. Pick one and tell me at it is, Itachi."
This right here was the reason why neither Kisuke or Tessai wanted to report the completion of the ward to Yamamoto so they saddled Itachi with it, with Kisuke citing that 'the two of them knew how to deal with each other'.
"The ward's integrity was put against my perception and keen sight in identifying the weaknesses in seals and it held up to standard. If the enemy however has a stronger perception and better spying abilities than me, while we know the ward would hold up and alert us in the event of an infiltration, it is not a tested method so I can't speak on its strength to hold up."
By all accounts, it would hold up fine but better to expect its failure and be surprised by its success than expect success and be met with failure.
"Hmm, then it better hold up." Yamamoto finally said. "As for the debacle with the group of Togabito from Hell and whoever they are allied with, it has been decided that no venture into Hell is to be approved."
"Decided by you or Central 46?" Itachi asked casually despite the daring act. Yamamoto however just leveled him an unimpressed stare, already used to his blunt habit, daring or not.
"Unanimous." Yamamoto supplied. "The uncertainty of Hell already proves a grave risk. If they're deeper into its pits as suspected then whoever goes in will just be digging their graves as deep, especially you."
Yamamoto looked at Itachi with deep eyes, and in an extremely rare manner, to Itachi's silent surprise, spoke to Itachi, not in an official capacity, but in a more personal one.
"You're a stubborn one, Itachi-boyo; stubborn, smart, strong, and a sense of duty as strong as steel. You're eager to remove any enemy from your path before they can stand on their feet, which is a healthy mindset to have. But sometimes, Itachi, you have to sit back and let the enemy rattle themselves. Rats can never stay silent for long. Let them gather and farm while you keep watch like you always do."
Itachi had no idea what had spurred the Head Captain to speak like that but he nodded and regarded the words in the silence of his mind.
Yamamoto grunted as he sat back into his chair. It was similar to the grunt an old man would give to those smart but equally stubborn children when he was fed up with them.
"Your Zanpakutō?" Itachi looked at Yamamoto in slight confusion at the question. "You said they felt a connection to Hell. Have they been able to figure out what it was?"
"No, she hasn't. She said it's bound to be something interesting if it called out to her specifically." Itachi repeated Amaterasu's words.
"Ask the old monster if his bones are still strong enough to dance with one such as I. He'll be a very entertaining dance partner, I can feel it."
Of course Itachi easily ignored that part, being smart enough to ignore most of Amaterasu's outlandish desires.
"Hmm," Yamamoto closed his eyes for a few seconds before opening them and nodded at Itachi. "Dismissed."
He left the 1st Division and found that he was in no rush to return to his office. He had no major unfinished business on his desk and any smaller issues would be taken care of by Soi Fon, or Yoruichi if she felt like it.
He looked up at the setting sun and decided that he would get a better view from the Sōkyoku Hill and that was what he did.
Despite being a popular landmark of the Seireitei, no one came here due to the fact that it was an execution ground.
He let go as no one was watching and laid down with hands spread on the bare ground as he gazed at the receding sun. He pushed all thoughts of duty and work away from his mind and focused on what was left— those smaller parts of himself that were slowly getting overlooked.
It has been quite some time since he joined Retsu for a session of tea and calligraphy. It has been a long time since he took a stroll down the Rukongai. He'd take Junpei along with him the next time he went. It has been too long since he last cooked a good meal for Soi Fon, Junpei and Yashiru. It was quite some time ago since he last shared a drink with Kyōraku. Enough time had passed since he last sparred with Soi Fon and Junpei, or even fought with Zaraki.
He did not know when he fell asleep but when he woke up he saw that he was no longer alone, and his body had been shifted. A self-satisfied smug grin was what greeted him when he woke up.
"Must've been quite the comfortable sleep, huh? At least tell me you dreamt of something exciting."
He tried to get up but Yoruichi used one finger to push his head back down to rest on her thighs.
"Don't get shy on me all of a sudden. You were more than content to rest on them for the last three hours so just stay there and enjoy the full experience."
He brought a hand to his face to cover a groan but stopped halfway and let his hand fall back to the ground.
Three hours. That was more than he expected. As for him being asleep while someone was in close proximity with him for three hours… that was all Yoruichi. She was the only one who could slip past his senses this easily and for this long without him knowing and he still remembered the extremely pleased smile she had, as well as Soi Fon's scandalous looks that alternated between the two of them when she'd found out.
"You're quite the peaceful sleeper, barely made a sound." She said, bereft of the prior teasing tone. "Guess you were quite tired, hm. You came up here for some self-reflection and ended up falling asleep?"
It was both a statement and a question so Itachi nodded. That she had found him and could guess what he had been doing before falling asleep was a normal thing to him, with how good she was at reading him.
"Well don't let me stop. We have some time to kill so think away." She said easily as she looked down at him with his hat on her head blocking a portion of the moon's glow.
He could have declined and cited one of the numerous things he had to do, or just outright refused, but for once he didn't feel like ignoring that particular small voice.
"…. How long do we have?" He could tell that she was pleased by his easy acceptance and it was not because it gave her an avenue to tease him.
She breathed out and looked up at the moon. The sky was silent and the moon looked like an unwilling audience.
"Just this once…. For however long you want." She said softly, lost in the moon's glow at her own self-reflection.
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A/N: Sorry for the unannounced ghosting. The last month or so has been hectic and largely a huge pain. Lost my phone and my keys in transit, thankfully all my things are backed up. March was extremely testing, so I'm hoping April is a little chill. It was supposed to be two chapters but both needed some reworking after weeks of not opening them. I'll post the other one in the evening.
Once again, sorry for the unannounced disappearance.
Quack, over and out.