Itachi's Request

Itachi stared at Narak with dark lines across his face.

"So, Narak-kun, you still haven't answered my question. What were you doing sneaking into the Uchiha Clan's territory in the middle of the night?"

Itachi and Narak were not meeting for the first time. Both were geniuses of their respective clans. While others their age were still attending school, they had already begun leaving the village to carry out missions, so the two of them were fairly familiar with each other.

Narak clasped his hands behind his head and pretended to speak casually. "Hey, hey, what if I told you I was sleepwalking and had no idea why I came here? Would you believe me?"

"Heh..." Itachi looked at Narak with clear hostility.

"Fine, don't look at me like that. We have no grudge against each other, so there's no need to fight. Why don't you simply leave Konoha, and I'll go back to sleep on my own? How about it?"

Itachi continued staring at Narak. "You saw what happened just now. Why do you think I'd let you leave?"

Faced with Itachi's relentless questioning, Narak wiped the smile from his face.

"Itachi, you don't dare kill me, because your little brother still needs to live safely in Konoha. Never mind whether you can actually kill me—even if you really could, do you think the Hyuga Clan would let your brother off?"

"Between Konoha and your clan, you chose to remain loyal to Konoha. For that, you didn't hesitate to bear the crime of slaughtering your entire clan."

"And although you appeared to be trying to kill your brother just now, you were actually only trying to provoke him. You reached a deal with the village's higher-ups long ago, trading the destruction of the Uchiha Clan for your brother's survival."

"But if you kill me, then even if Konoha's higher-ups want to protect your brother, the Hyuga Clan definitely won't let him go. So I'll bet that you don't dare make a move."

Hearing Narak's words, Itachi's pupils involuntarily contracted.

"You seem to know quite a lot, Narak-kun." As he spoke, Itachi dispelled the killing intent surrounding him.

Seeing Itachi dispel his killing intent, Narak felt relieved as well. Although it would not be easy for Itachi to kill him, if they truly fought, Narak had no guarantee of victory. After all, Itachi had already awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan. Narak had to admit that he was no match for Itachi right now.

"Actually, Itachi, is what you're doing really worth it?"

Narak asked Itachi in confusion.

Itachi shook his head and said helplessly, "The Uchiha Clan's attempt to rebel was doomed to fail. If it reached that point, the Uchiha Clan would be disgraced and never have a chance to rise again. Rather than let that happen, I might as well do it myself. At least this way, I can preserve some of the Uchiha bloodline."

"Narak-kun, I want to ask you for a favor. After I leave Konoha, I hope you can look after my little brother a little."

Itachi made his request to Narak.

Faced with Itachi's request, Narak was slightly stunned. "Oh? You want me to look after your brother? You trust me that much?"

Itachi smiled faintly. "Although we aren't particularly close, we've known each other for many years. Over the past few years, I've occasionally kept an eye on you. I feel that you're different from the others in the village."

"People in the village are either wholeheartedly loyal to Konoha or secretly harbor ulterior motives and scheme behind everyone's backs."

"But you're different. To be honest, I still haven't seen through you. Narak-kun, you possess impressive strength, but you don't seem to care much about the affairs of the village. In fact, I think that if the Cloud ninja kidnapping incident hadn't exposed you to Konoha's higher-ups, you might have continued hiding yourself until now."

"Although you seem to be doing your best to conceal yourself, I can tell that you don't harbor any ill will toward Konoha. If I had to describe you with one word... Let me think. I suppose I'd call you... a slacker."

"Heh... heh heh..." Narak's mouth twitched when he heard Itachi's assessment of him.

Fine, my personality really is like that, but is it really okay to say it to my face like this...?

"So, Narak-kun, please. Help me look after Sasuke a little. You don't need to give him special treatment. Just help him if he encounters danger or suffers unfair treatment in the village." Itachi gave Narak a slight bow.

Faced with Itachi's request, Narak thought for a moment before saying, "I can only say I'll do my best. I won't always be in Konoha, but I'll help whenever I can."

"That alone is enough. After all, he'll have to walk most of the road ahead on his own." Itachi nodded.

"Then I should be leaving soon. After tonight, I'll be a missing-nin of Konoha. If we meet again in the future, I hope we won't have to cross blades. Also, Narak-kun, be careful of Danzo!"

"Alright, have a safe journey. The Akatsuki is full of dangerous people, so you need to stay safe too."

Hearing this, Itachi was startled once again.

"How do you... even know about that? This was a secret mission Third Hokage assigned to me. Aside from me and Third Hokage, no one else..."

"You don't need to worry about how I know. In fact, I know far more than you can imagine. Oh, and since you warned me to watch out for that old schemer Danzo today, let me offer you one more piece of advice: for the sake of your own health, you should use the Mangekyō Sharingan as little as possible." Narak waved a hand at Itachi.

"Use the Mangekyō Sharingan less? You even know about the Sharingan of our Uchiha Clan?"

"I don't know what you mean, but it seems you really do know quite a lot. 'Old schemer Danzo'? That nickname suggests you know something about Danzo as well. Narak-kun, you're becoming harder and harder for me to see through. I'm genuinely quite curious about you." Itachi pondered Narak's warning.

"Don't. You're a grown man—what do you want with being curious about me? People often fall in love with each other starting from curiosity. You're not some pretty girl, and if you fell for me, I wouldn't be able to accept it." Narak looked at Itachi with undisguised disgust.

"You... Forget it. There's no way to continue this conversation. I'm leaving, Narak-kun. See you another time!"

With that, Itachi vanished in a flash. After a few leaps, he disappeared from Narak's sight.

Watching Itachi leave, then looking at Uchiha Sasuke lying on the ground, Narak could not help shaking his head. "What is this supposed to be? Somehow, I ended up taking a babysitting job. But..."

Narak raised his head and gazed at several dark corners around him. One ANBU shinobi after another was concealed there.

"The conversation between Itachi and me was seen by these ANBU. It has probably already reached that old man Third Hokage by now. They don't know exactly what we discussed, but they'll probably come looking for me tomorrow to ask about it."

"What a hassle... If Third Hokage finds out that I have Jonin-level strength, he'll probably pile even more work on me. So annoying... I just want to lie flat..." Narak wailed inwardly.