In the Light of Shadows

Chapter 4 – Canon Blasting

Itachi Uchiha was very confused.

Two months ago, the villagers had hated the Uchihas. The other clans had been distrusting of them for the past eight years. They believed the Uchihas to have been behind the Kyuubi attack due to being able to control the Kyuubi with their eyes. And their separation from the rest of society by being forced into a compound had only increased this distrust and hatred, such that his own clan head was planning to overthrow the government.

But something had changed.

Rumors spread around the townspeople. Normally where the Uchihas were concerned, this was not a good thing. But these rumors were the friendly sort, good news sort. One day while training in stealth, he overheard a merchant mentioning how friendly Mikoto Uchiha had been to him during a sale to her, despite the fact that Itachi knew the woman had never left the compound to buy from him. Another waitress gushed to a friend another day about how generously Obito's grandmother tipped after eating at her restaurant; again, Itachi well understood that the woman had never eaten at that restaurant.

And other little things, too – like himself helping save a kid (who he'd never met in his life), or how well Sasuke interacted with the other kids (who his brother had never played with in his life), even how Naka Uchiha had defended a woman about to be raped by another villager. It wasn't just these instances, either, but whispered suggestions that maybe the clan hadn't been behind the attack; after all, what would they have had to gain from it? A ruined village and deceased villagers? The complete isolation and hatred they had now? There was no benefit to the clan.

Slowly but surely, these rumors, as unfounded as they were save for the new ones about the Kyuubi attack, began to change the public's image of the Uchiha Clan over the course of two months. Voices of distrust were quieter. In the next Council Meeting, someone even suggested moving the Uchiha Clan out of the compound and back integrating them back into the rest of society. This shocked Itachi's father to his very core.

"They're changing," Fugaku breathed in confusion one night over dinner. "What caused it?"

"There are some rumors in the village," Itachi brought up for the first time. Before this, he'd kept this fact to himself. Fugaku looked at him in surprise. "Rumors about things we've been doing. People we've been helping, people we've been friendly and kind to…"

"Who started the rumors?" Fugaku demanded, looking quite uncertain what emotions to feel.

Itachi pursed his lips. "That I do not know, father," he admitted quietly.

The clan head fixed a strange, unreadable look on the ANBU member. "I want you to find this person, or people, and invite them to the Clan compound," he ordered. "I want to meet with them face to face and discover why they are trying to help us."

Itachi nodded. "Of course, father."

The Akatsuki member first went back to the original places he'd heard the rumors from. Any second-hand rumors, he tracked down the first hand sources; any first-hand rumors, he asked the person directly. He told them he was simply grateful for what they were saying and wanted to know the full details.

What he discovered was surprising – some of the rumors' first hand sources could not be found, like ghosts in the village whispering in people's ears, and others were just normal villagers who whole-heartedly believed they had seen the Uchihas doing what they described. However, none of the reported events took place midday – during Academy hours, actually, the boy noted. All of them took place either early in the morning or in the afternoon/evening after the Academy classes ended. Discovering this pattern drove Danzo's subordinate to investigate the Academy. He observed the students there quietly. At first, none of them stood out, but then he noticed something – a first year getting first-hand training in Transformation Jutsu by Iruka-sensei, outside of normal class time. The boy would even skip recess to train.

Itachi wasn't sure why, but he decided to stalk this boy home, this very feminine boy who liked wearing women's clothing and makeup and such. (Actually, Itachi quickly realized the boy was not a boy but transgender, hence the clothing and makeup, as well as the way he acted and some other people, including HER brother, talked about her.) The Sharingan user carefully used his ANBU training to go undetected as she waved to her brother – the clan heir of the Nara clan, he noted – and headed off into the main part of the village. Before she did so, however, she waited until her brother and her friends, the Jinchuuriki, the Akimichi heir, and the Yamanaka heir (what a group THAT was) had gone well ahead of her, then ducked behind a tree.

A few seconds later, to Itachi's shock, the person who came away from the tree and walked purposefully towards the village was not the Nara heir's sister, but his own mother. It wasn't a perfect copy of her, but it was still remarkably well done! This girl was amazing at the Transformation Jutsu – better even than some actual Genin! The skill impressed Itachi immensely; the child had to be a genius, even disregarding the fact that she was a Nara.

The ANBU decided to make himself known and quickly walked up beside the girl. "Hello," he said with a soft smile. "That was some impressive Transformation Jutsu."

The girl jumped and turned, wide-eyed. "I-Itachi!" she gasped, face going red. She looked down at herself, then back up, quickly transforming again into a female version of her actual self. "I-I don't know what you're talking about!"

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "So you were the one who's behind the rumors in town, then?"

The girl blushed and rubbed the back of her head. "Ummm… maybe?"

He smiled and ruffled the girl's hair, making her jump in surprise and then pout. "Don't worry, you're not in trouble," he said, chuckling. "Actually, my father wishes for you to come to the Uchiha Compound for dinner to thank you and find out why you were helping us out. Does next week at seven o'clock suit you?"

The girl looked lost. "Wait, wait, I'm wanted at the Uchiha Compound for dinner?" she stammered, face so red even her ears were pink. "B-But… Wait… Uh, I'll have to talk to my family?"

Itachi nodded and smiled warmly at her. This girl, who had already done so much for them – and was maybe even well on her way to making it so he wouldn't have to murder his own family. He desperately hoped this would be true. "I'll go with you to your clan's compound," he told her, smiling. "I'll wait outside for your answer. Give it to me when you find out if they will allow it."

She nodded nervously and they walked quietly to the Nara sector of the city. It was a peaceful walk for Itachi, though anything but for the young Nara girl. While they walked, he did wonder how she knew what they looked like, and how she knew his name – her nerves also seemed to indiciate she was aware of at least a part of who he was – but these questions could wait.

Once they'd arrived, Itachi waited patiently outside of the clan compound as he'd said, gaining some curious looks from some Naras leaving and heading toward the rest of the village. After about ten minutes, the girl came back, still looking pretty nervous. "M-My parents said it's okay!" she told Itachi, and he vaguely wondered what she'd told them the reason for was. But he nodded and smiled.

"Thank you," he gratefully said, bowing to the first-year Academy student. "Then please arrive at the Uchiha Compound at seven in one week—next Friday. I'll be there to help show you the way to my family's house."

The girl, still looking completely uncertain of things, nodded shyly and bowed in return. "T-Thank you, I will be there then!" she promised.

~o~

"Sooo," Shikaku Nara said with a twinkle in his eye as Shikari returned to the back porch, where Shikamaru and his dad played Shogi in the sunlight. "Why is my cute daughter wanted at the Uchiha Compound?"

Shikamaru blinked at Shikari as she nervously rubbed an arm. "U-Um… I dunno," she said, clearly lying, again making Shikamaru blink and this time narrow his eyes. "I-I've been friendly with Sasuke-senpai a bit… maybe it's because of that…?"

"Does my daughter have a boyfriend~?" Shikaku practically sang teasingly, making the heir's sister jump and BLUSH.

"N-No, I don't!" Shikari said, completely pink-cheeked. "A-And it wouldn't be Sasuke-senpai anyway!"

Shikamaru sighed, then smirked, deciding to tease his sister himself. "So then you like boys?"

Shikari pouted, burying her face in her hands. "Shikkun!" she whined miserably. "You two are so troublesome!" She stomped past them, off the porch, and plopped herself down on the grass, laying in the warm sun.

"I don't hear a no~!" Shikamaru's father called, to Shikari's vast embarrassment.

~o~

One week passed, and Friday arrived with a gentle rain. Shikari walked to the Uchiha Compound under an umbrella, heart beating because of her nerves. Itachi, waiting for her as he'd mentioned he would at the compound gates, could tell how nervous she was just from the way she walked. It was an unusually stiff gait, with her steps being unusually shaky. She did not currently use the Transformation Jutsu; probably because maintaining it for extended periods of time required large amounts of chakra. Instead, she was only in her women's clothing and makeup.

"H-Hello," she greeted him upon reaching him. Itachi smiled and greeted her back before leading her off to his family's house.

When they arrived, formal introductions were made, as per standard procedure. Sasuke seemed to recognize her and was confused why she had joined them for dinner. Fugaku looked surprised the rumor-spreader was just an Academy girl, while Mikoto was impressed with how such a young student was so proficient in Transformation Jutsu.

"So," Fugaku began over a delicious meal of brown fried rice, soba noodles glazed with teriyaki sauce, and thinly cut beef so tender it practically fell apart in Itachi's mouth, "why did you decide to help us?"

Sasuke blinked and tilted his head. "Help us?" he asked in confusion, looking from Fugaku to Shikari.

"She's been spreading positive rumors about us to make the villagers regain trust in us," Mikoto told him when Fugaku ignored him.

The girl nervously swallowed some beef before looking up and meeting Fugaku's eyes. "Because I don't think the Uchiha Clan deserves the disrespect they receive," she said with full sincerity. "I do not believe that you were the cause of the Kyuubi's attack on the village eight years ago. I never understood why people thought you would do it. I couldn't see what you had to gain from it. But I'm only one person, and I'm not well-liked in the village anyway, because…" She trailed off, blushing and glancing away a little.

"Because you're transgender?" Itachi supplied with a supportive smile.

She blushed and nodded meekly. "Yeah. So I decided rather than simply doing it myself, which wouldn't have worked, I would transform into you guys using the Transformation Jutsu I was taught at the Academy."

"How did you get so good at it so quickly that people couldn't tell you were a fake?" Mikoto asked with a raised eyebrow. "At such a young age?"

"I got extra lessons from Iruka-sensei, and my parents helped, too," Shikari said quietly, bowing her head and smiling softly. "I've been blessed with people I can trust to be very supportive of me this time," she added so softly Itachi almost didn't hear it. He wouldn't have had he not been sitting right beside her. He blinked and looked at her questioningly, but she didn't seem to notice.

Sasuke, listening to all of this intently, looked at Shikari with wide eyes. "I can't believe you wanted to help us so bad…" he mumbled in surprise.

"I see," Fugaku mused, nodding. "My family and my clan appreciates your attempts to help us regain favor with the village."

Shikari pursed her lips and then glanced back up seriously. "Uchiha-sama, if I may?" she said, Fugaku raising an eyebrow but allowing her to continue. "Although the initial reason the villagers distrust you and the Uchiha clan at large is because they believe you all were behind the Kyuubi Attack, compounding upon that initial distrust is the fact that you are rarely seen in society. This feeds the fears they already had, and only festers more distrust. If you want to end their treatment of you, I believe the best way to do that would be to interact with the villagers more and show them their image of you is incorrect. Bad ideas need to be attacked directly. Letting them sit unchallenged only causes them to grow."

"Very well-said," Fugaku appraised, studying her curiously. "You seem to have a great deal of maturity for someone so small."

Shikari's ears grew pink and she rubbed her arm. "W-Well, I've had personal experience with that… a-and I couldn't understand the language at all at first so I studied it a lot at the library and stuff…"

Mikoto giggled and whispered to Itachi, "She's adorable."

Fugaku fell silent as he ate his supper, and Itachi carefully watched him as he closed his eyes and thought things over. "I don't think I would have believed this two months ago," he said at last after swallowing a forkful of fried rice. "I'm still not entirely convinced your clan hasn't put you up to this, perhaps to form an alliance with the Uchiha."

Shikari stiffened and frowned. "I'm doing this independently!" she insisted.

He gave her a steady look. "Then how did you know what we looked like?"

She paused a moment. "I'm fairly close friends with Sasuke-senpai, Uchiha-sama," she explained. "He showed me pictures of some of his family members once."

Sasuke blinked and started to open his mouth, then winced and closed it. Itachi looked at them to see Shikari's foot return to position; she must've kicked him. So it was a lie – but then, what was the real reason?

Regardless, Fugaku appeared to accept this. He nodded. "I'm still not entirely convinced, but very well. And despite my doubts, the proof of the effects your actions have caused is undeniable." He shook his head in disbelief. "Just the other week, the Council talked about undoing the separation of my clan from the village!"

Shikari's eyes widened. "I… I've had that much of an effect?" she breathed, stunned. "Just me…?"

Fugaku nodded. "It was quickly dismissed by the other Council members, but it was still brought up – for the first time in years. Which is why I will take into consideration what you are saying while previously, I may have dismissed it as mere unfounded idealistic optimism."

Sasuke turned to look happily at his father, while the young Nara let out a breath. "Thank you, Uchiha-sama," she said sincerely, smiling brightly.

Dinner ended soon after and Itachi escorted the transgender girl back out to the compound gates. As he did so, looking at darkening sky, he couldn't help but feel that it was an unusually warm, bright night.