Just Another Missing Nin

Summary: Itachi was a missing nin and a traitor to Konoha. That was not to say he did not still see it as his home.

Or: Itachi slips up in his role as enemy of Konoha when a genin team gets separated from their teacher. Kisame pretends like he doesn't know exactly what's going on.

However Itachi had expected to spend the rest of his day, stumbling over a team of Konoha genin had had to be at the very bottom of his list.

Not to mention that they were in the middle of a fight. And, from what Itachi could gather, quickly being cornered and overwhelmed.

Although his eyesight had deteriorated to such a degree that he could not identify the symbols on their forehead protectors, he had no doubt about their affiliation. He had already heard the commands and responding barks suggesting an Inuzuka, as well as the buzzing of thousands of insects that could only be an Aburame. Indeed: a quick glance with his Sharingan proved him right and allowed him to identify the additional Hyūga girl.

There was no jōnin within sight.

If Itachi was not above such sentiments, he would have sighed. As it was, he simply adjusted his position hiding in some nearby branches and flared his chakra subtly enough that only the full grown shinobi attacking them were able to pick up on it. His eyes flashed red and they were under a genjutsu, slowing them down instead of beating them altogether.

The children took care of the rest, and Itachi did not even have to leave his hiding place.

Kisame met up with him a few minutes later. He took one glance at the bodies lying in the clearing and looked at Itachi with pointed accusation.

"Did you have a fight without me?"

Itachi did not bat an eyelash. "The children had already beaten their attackers when I found them."

"Huh." Kisame looked impressed. "Skilled for their age, then."

Itachi did not object.

Itachi had fully planned to leave once the attackers were taken care of. Unfortunately for him, he overheard the genin talking before he could go through with his plan. Against his better judgement, he stayed to listen.

"K-Kiba," the Hyūga girl said, "Sh-Shino… You're hurt…"

The Inuzuka boy – Kiba – barked a laugh that sounded suspiciously close to a grunt of pain. "Don't worry, Hinata. It takes more than this to keep us down."

"Kiba is correct," Shino said in a monotone tone of voice. Itachi could make out the slight pitch in his voice. "Why? Because Kurenai-sensei has taught us better than this."

"B-But," there was a rustling that suggested fidgeting, "what about her? Sh-She could be anywhere. How a-are we supposed to find her?"

"We will attempt to pick up her trail," Shino said. "Failing that, we will find our way to Konoha ourselves."

A huff, coming from Kiba's direction. "Who made you the leader?" He paused. "But I guess it's not a stupid plan. What a pain though. We're already late, I'll miss the training session Hana promised me!"

There was a pang in Itachi's chest that he did not care to identify further. For a moment, Kiba had reminded him of Sasuke. More specifically, of how eager Sasuke had been to learn from his big brother.

Itachi sunk further into his hiding place, but made no move to leave.

"Why exactly are we following a team of Konoha genin?"

Itachi kept his useless eyes on the road ahead, sensing for the chakra signatures travelling ahead of them. "The path they are using is the shortest to our own destination."

Kisame paused. "Of course. How could I have missed that before."

To Itachi's surprise, the children never swayed from their path and travelled confidently towards Konoha. They certainly had the potential to become a skilled tracking team.

However, they were also still genin. They were inexperienced, injured and exhausted from their fight. They slipped up at night time, when it came to picking a camping place. Each of the three looked ready to drop, and instead of scouting out their surroundings, they choose a camping place obviously vulnerable to wild animals – not to mention open to worse.

Itachi could not blame them. The fight – despite Itachi's intervention – must have taken a lot out of them and left them too exhausted to think clearly. Genin were ever so fragile.

He cocked his head to the side as if he had heard something. He succeeded in gaining Kisame's attention, and a few hand signs were enough to make him take a look around the place, distracting him with a search for pursuers that were not there.

Itachi did not waste time. A quick Sharingan-enhanced scan of the forest and a well aimed kunai later, a wild pig burst out of the bushes – away from the genin, but enough to get their attention.

"Woah! Did you see that?!" Kiba yelled, but was quickly shushed by Shino.

"Be quiet. Why? Because there could be worse things waiting than wild animals."

"U-Um," Hinata stuttered, and Itachi was mildly surprised that her more confident teammates fell silent to give her their full attention immediately. "W-We could build our camp in the trees instead."

Content, Itachi blended back into the shadows.

"And we're staying to watch them overnight because…?"

Itachi had already settled in a semi-comfortable position for the rest of the night. "We are collecting intel."

"Intel. From three genin fresh out of the academy."

Itachi's expression did not falter in the slightest.

Kisame leaned back beside him. "Sure thing."

As it turned out, the children were capable enough to not require Itachi's help for much else. They continued to track down the quickest route to Konoha effortlessly and stopped only to rest and to treat each others' wounds. Hinata and Kiba showed proficiency in basic healing techniques.

They fit together like a well oiled machine while keeping up the occasional banter.

"You know, our bosses would probably be interested in her eyes."

"She is too young," Itachi said, not missing a beat. "We would waste their time with an underdeveloped Bloodline Limit."

Kisame huffed a laugh that Itachi pretended not to notice. Neither of them acknowledged that they both knew better, and that that was not how the Byakugan worked at all.

They managed to intercept the bandits before the genin so much as noticed them. While the group recognized neither Kisame, nor Itachi, they were not stupid enough to miss how utterly out of their league they were.

"Look, we ain't looking for trouble," their apparent leader said, raising her hands in surrender. "We can share. Bunch of baby ninja ain't no challenge, we can share the price. What do ya want?"

Going from the terrified gasps, Itachi assumed Kisame had just given them a pleasant smile. It was not his fault that those tended to show off his rather sharp teeth.

"You're right. The children wouldn't be a challenge." He took Samehada from his shoulder and Itachi was certain that one of the bandits fainted on the spot. "Let's hope that you will be more interesting a challenge."

They were not, in fact, a challenge at all.

After all was said and done, they left behind a pile of bodies.

"For the bounty," Itachi said, justifying the fight.

Kisame's voice was cheerful. "Sure thing."

That night, all three of the genin were asleep, Hinata having lost her fight to stay awake during her turn to keep watch. Itachi could not blame her. She, more than the other two, had given all of her energy and more to keep her teammates going and their injuries treated.

Itachi turned his head when Kisame left their hiding place. Soon, Itachi felt the heat of a Fire Release, its light illuminating his face. Kisame had relit the fire that had gone out not long ago.

Kisame returned and shrugged when Itachi threw him a glance. "At this point I'd just be insulted if they didn't make it back in one piece."

They reached Konoha the next day. Or rather, they reached the point where Itachi and Kisame could not safely follow them without risking to enter the range of the guards.

But no matter. They were more than capable to manage the rest of their journey by themselves.

Then, all three of them stopped. This confused Itachi. It was very unlikely that they had noticed something that Kisame and he had missed. Even so, he activated the Sharingan, just in case.

He was surprised when the genin turned directly towards their hiding place.

"Thank you, shinobi-san," Hinata whispered, just loud enough for Itachi and Kisame to understand.

"Thanks," Kiba agreed, followed by a bark from his dog. "Whoever you are, we'll keep your secret."

"Why?" Shino joined it. "Because you have taken great care to stay hidden."

"You'll have your reasons," Kiba concluded, "so we'll keep quiet."

They bowed as well as they could with their injuries. Then they turned, and continued their journey to Konoha.

They had made sure to put enough distance between them and Konoha before Kisame spoke up.

"They'll make a great team, one day."

Itachi did not answer, but he was inclined to agree.

A/N: For the prompt: "A few small instances where Itachi did something to help Konoha while under cover as Akatsuki. Bonus points if you can write Kisame in there pretending to not notice while actually helping his partner as well."

Shoot me a prompt on tumblr, if you like - xxgwenstacyxx!

Please leave a review, and thanks for reading!

~Gwen