Enigma - An Uchiha Itachi Fanfic

1 - Konoha

This chapter is dedicated to annabethjkswife! Happy reading! ^^

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Asumi pov:

The sight in front of he had me smiling fondly. The bustling streets were a sight that filled me with nostalgia and a sense of excitement, for I was looking forward to the familiar faces I was going to see in just a few moments. It had been more than a year since I had returned to Konoha and I was more than happy to see that nearly nothing of it had changed. It was just as warm, welcoming and homely as it had always been.

It was only a ten minute walk before the large red building with the word fire painted in bold on its outer wall was visible to me and had me picking up my pace of walking. Instead of going through the door and taking the steps to the upper floor, I jumped onto the roof and landed on the sill of the open window of the Hokage's office room.

My smile widened at the sight of the scowling woman seated at the desk on which stacks of paperwork remained unfinished. She was writing something rather furiously, her brows knitted deeply in concentration more than any other emotion. She paused what she was doing suddenly, relaxing her tense posture before closing her eyes with a smile. Upon opening her eyes, she met my gaze still smiling.

"It's been a while, Sumi," she said.

Jumping inside to land softly on my feet, I replied, "It has, Aunt Tsuna. And it's great to see you."

Getting up from her seat, she strode to me so we could share a warm embrace, one that was firm though, indicative of the immense strength that the both of us possessed. Upon parting, Aunt Tsuna ran her fingers once through my silver strands - a trait that I had got from my great grandfather Tobirama sama - and then placed her hand on my shoulder.

"It's great to see you too, Sumi," she said. "I hope you've come to stay for a while this time."

"A couple of weeks, maybe," I answered with a shrug.

For the last four years, since I returned from six years of being a tortured captive, I had been a wanderer. While Konoha had always been my home, a place I could return to with family and friends, it was not a place of permanent residence for me. Staying in one place too long often had me feeling restrained, restless, as if I was still bound by some force like the rogue nin who had captured me to satisfy their desire to be even a step closer to the God of shinobi, my great uncle Hashirama sama.

Of course, the atmosphere of Konoha was nowhere close to the dark dungeons I had been kept in while being beaten and tortured to subjugation, until I could barely breathe from broken ribs and barely move from broken limbs. The only reasons I was still alive after being subjected to such maiming nearly every day were my immense chakra and imperative skill in healing and medical ninjutsu. I was gifted, similar to Aunt Tsuna, and had learnt more than merely fine tuning medical ninjutsu under her after I had been saved.

"Here are the house keys. You should freshen up and have something to eat before relaxing. I still have some paperwork to finish, so I'll see you at home by dinner time," Aunt Tsuna said whilst holding out her house keys.

"That doesn't look like some paperwork though. That looks like a lot," I mused, eyeing the stacks of papers on her desk. It seemed that Aunt Tsuna still had the habit of procrastinating when it came to dealing with a lot of work.

Her brow twitched in response to my words. She was quick to grab my hand to place the keys in it. Pushing me towards the door, as if shooing me, she muttered, "Some or lot, it's mine to deal with, so don't let it bother you. Go home instead of bothering me here."