There really is a difference between one Sharingan and another. And honestly, Itachi's still ridiculously handsome. How else does a man become the ultimate dutiful son and stay this popular? Looks really are justice. As long as the face is good, the whole world bows down.
"Itachi Uchiha!"
Sasuke stared at the line of text beneath the video. His arms wouldn't stop trembling.
He tapped the screen. The video expanded.
It opened on a foggy scene. Footsteps echoed softly as two figures in black cloaks patterned with red clouds walked toward the village gates of Konoha.
"Um…"
One of the chunin guards started to speak, but the shorter of the two men suddenly opened his Sharingan. The guard collapsed instantly, dropped into a genjutsu-induced sleep.
Bells chimed faintly as the two figures slipped deeper into the village.
Sharingan.
Sasuke recognized it instantly. Those eyes were burned into his memory.
And the man who owned them… even more so.
The criminal who murdered the Uchiha clan. Uchiha Itachi.
The scene shifted. The voices of two men could be heard perched on a tree somewhere inside Konoha. At the end of their conversation, the shark-faced man asked:
"Found him yet?"
"Yeah," Itachi replied without emotion.
"Good. Makes this easier."
"Let's go."
Outside the video, Hatake Kakashi stared at the image. He recognized one of them immediately. Uchiha Itachi.
Back in the Anbu, they had worked missions together. Itachi had been under his command. Of course Kakashi knew him.
But the man beside him… he had no idea who that was.
Who could he be?
He seemed to be Itachi's partner. Not a subordinate, but a teammate. Their positioning and demeanor made that clear.
And for someone to stand beside an Uchiha prodigy like Itachi, someone who by now should at least be on par with an elite jonin—possibly even at kage-level—the partner's status couldn't be simple.
Before Kakashi could think further, the scene shifted again.
This time, Kakashi was waiting outside a teahouse, Make-Out Paradise in hand.
Not far away, Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuhi walked over.
"Well now, you two look cozy," Kakashi said, tucking his book away.
Kurenai's cheeks flushed as she hurried to explain. "Don't say weird things. I'm only here to pick up dango for Anko."
"What're you doing out here?" Asuma asked.
"Nothing much. Thought I'd buy some offerings, then figured I'd wait for someone," Kakashi said. He glanced into the teahouse. "Waiting for Sasuke."
Inside, the two red-cloud-cloaked men were drinking tea. When one of them heard Sasuke's name, his finger twitched ever so slightly.
Kurenai and Asuma noticed it immediately.
"You, waiting for someone? That's rare," Asuma muttered, peeking toward the teahouse as well. "The offering's for someone, then?"
"Exactly."
The whole area filled with tension. It didn't break until a newcomer arrived—Sasuke Uchiha.
"Kakashi, you actually showed up early?"
Sasuke strode over, dressed in a fitted training outfit.
"Sometimes," Kakashi answered simply.
When Sasuke glanced toward the teahouse, the seats where Itachi and Kisame had been were empty.
Both Sasuke and Kakashi watching from outside the footage reached the same conclusion: future Sasuke did end up in Kakashi's squad. He became Kakashi's subordinate.
But being a subordinate wasn't the same as being a student.
A subordinate was just that. A student inherited techniques, legacy, and guidance.
Still, for most ordinary ninja without background or connections, a jonin leader was the highest-level resource they'd ever get close to.
Even a bit of guidance or a single new jutsu was a huge opportunity.
After all, plenty of chunin barely had more than the academy's basic trio of techniques and maybe a few other jutsu.
But Kakashi was supposedly capable of copying over a thousand jutsu with his Sharingan. To them, that sounded like fiction.
"I don't eat natto or sweets," future Sasuke said in the video, sounding impatient.
"Is that so?" Kakashi glanced at Asuma and Kurenai.
They immediately understood and left to intercept Itachi and Kisame.
"You're not from this village, are you?" Asuma asked as they stopped the two men.
"What are you here for?"
Itachi finally spoke. "Long time no see, Asuma-san, Kurenai-san."
"You know us?" Asuma frowned. "So you used to be Konoha ninja?"
Itachi removed his straw hat and revealed his face.
The spinning tomoe of his Sharingan were unmistakable.
Recognition hit Asuma and Kurenai like a hammer.
The butcher of his own clan.
"Hmph. No mistake… Uchiha… Itachi!" Asuma's voice trembled as cold sweat ran down his back.
He remembered exactly how dangerous this man was. Even without knowing the details of that night, the surface facts alone were enough. The Uchiha clan had been one of the strongest in the shinobi world. Jonin were everywhere in their ranks, and elite jonin, people on Asuma's level, were common.
After the Senju declined, the Uchiha had been the strongest clan in the world.
There were countless powerful ninja. And yet, the man in front of him wiped them all out.
"If you know Itachi, then I should introduce myself too. Hoshigaki Kisame."
Kisame removed his hat. The slash across his forehead protector was impossible to miss.
A rogue ninja from Kirigakure.
Two rogue ninjas from different villages, together.
Even Sasuke watching from outside the video understood the meaning of that slashed forehead protector. This was basic academy knowledge.