A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update. I was really busy, and I had a severe case of writer's block. In case anyone was confused, I'm picturing Midori's connection to the earth as being like the way Togh sees with her earthbending in Avatar: The Last Airbender, except Midori can't move the earth or anything, and the earth feels more alive to Midori.

The days passed in blur of predictable monotony after Aoki's death. Beyond his move into a slightly more comfortable room in the Anbu section of the ROOT base, the lack of sadistic teachers, and the occasional mission, not much had changed for Midori from the time before his initiation, though luckily he hadn't yet been forced to kill anyone on a mission, as most of his missions consisted of information retrieval and spying. Even his supposed comrades' wariness of him remained the same, though instead of trainees it came from the other ROOT Anbu. He'd reached the level of his mentors by the time he'd been initiated, and since the Anbu Danzo had assigned to teach the trainees were among the strongest in all of ROOT, the rest of the Anbu were within their rights to be wary.

Midori went through the motions of life robotically, feeling numb on the inside. He had no motivation, no interest in anything. He hadn't spoken a single word since his brother's death, prefering to communicate using sign language. The few times he'd mustered the will to try to speak, he hadn't been able to get any sound out. The only reason he stayed alive was because it was Aoki had wanted, but his life was meaningless to him. He couldn't even bring himself to properly feel joy when he left ROOT headquarters for his first mission, the first time he had left the base in his memory. Everything changed, however, the day he discovered someone who didn't belong within the underground building.

He didn't realize the signifigance of what he had seen when the wind first showed him the image no one else could see, but when he did he quickly drew conclusions. There was a spy in the base, a spy that only he knew was there. A very good spy, hidden by very good genjutsus. The spy wasn't at the base all the time, seeming to appear at random, but Midori knew when the spy was around and where he was every time. It was enough to pull him out of his apathy and pursue the goal he had set for himself before Aoki's death. A small flame of hope grew in his chest. He would escape ROOT, just as Aoki had wanted.

. . .

Midori stopped in the middle of the dark corridor, waiting for the only ROOT agent within hearing distance to walk far enough away before turning to look at a seemingly empty corner of the ceiling. {I need to speak with you,} he signed using the standard Anbu sign language, staring straight at the spy through his genjutsu, his standard porcelain mask hiding his young features from sight. Silence was his only answer, but still he waited, gazing calmly at the corner, a slight draft gently ruffling his hair.

The spy was startled, and more than a little fearful that someone had discovered him, and even more startled that they had addressed him directly about it instead of going straight to Danzo. Not to mention that the person who had found him was so small, standing almost a full head shorter than the spy did. Normally he wouldn't trust an enemy, but the small shinobi apparently hadn't given him away to Danzo yet, so he didn't see anything wrong with seeing what the ninja wanted with him. Besides, he was curious know how the shinobi had discovered him despite his genjutsu. No one had ever been able to see through one of his genjutsu before now.

After almost a full minute of waiting, the spy dropped silently from the ceiling and walked forward until he was standing in front of Midori. Midori's eyes followed the image the wind showed him as it moved, while also feeling the slight vibrations of the light, almost imperceptable footsteps on the earth. The spy was young, Midori thought, and from what he could see had pale skin and red eyes occupied by three black tomoes. An Uchiha if he remembered correctly from his lessons on the village's history.

{Follow me,} Midori signed before turning in the direction of his quarters, though he was careful to moniter the spy's movements in case he decided to attack. Ten minutes and several flights of stairs later, they pair had safely reached Midori's room. It was slightly bigger than the one he'd shared with Aoki, and had an actual bed in one corner. There was a shelf for books and scrolls, and a wardrobe that had several copies of his Anbu uniform inside, along with all of the extra weapons and poisons Midori didn't carry with him at all times. Once inside, he turned to the spy, who had dropped the genjutsu once they had entered the room.

{I am called No. 173,} Midori began by way of introduction. {Were you sent by the Hokage?} The dark figure of the spy seemed to consider him for a moment before slowly dipping his head in answer. Midori smiled slightly in relief. He hadn't known what he was going to do if that hadn't been the case. Midori raised his hand, ignoring the way the spy tensed, and slowly removed his mask, revealing his young face to the shocked spy. Suprisingly green eyes met with the red sharingan behind the Anbu mask. {I have a proposition for you.}

. . .

"Ah, Itachi," the Hokage greeted amiably when a black clad Anbu shunshinned through the open window of the his office to give his report, the pale boy automatically removing his porcelain mask out of respect. The wise old man immediately noticed that the young Uchiha's body was more tense than usual. "Come to give your report I suppose," he said, receiving a nod.

"I was discovered by one of the ROOT operatives," Itachi said without preamble and the old man's face creased momentarily with worry. "The shinobi made contact with me without reporting me the Danzo. He wishes to aid in the destruction of ROOT. He has already been sealed by Danzo, but says that he is willing to help any way he can, and that his loyalty is to the Hokage." Hiruzen's eyes widened ever so slightly. He knew that there was a possibility that this shinobi was setting a trap, and if he wasn't that the shinobi wouldn't be able to outright reveal imformation about Danzo and ROOT, but it would still be a great asset if he was truly on their side. He turned his calculating gaze to Itachi.

"What do you think about this?" Hiruzen asked the Uchiha. Itachi frowned briefly, a small wrinkle appearing between his brows as he thought.

"I believe his offer was genuine. Danzo would stand to gain nothing from allowing us to continue spying, and. . ." Itachi paused, looking strangely lost. "He was very young. Even younger than Sasuke, I think. And he says his name is No. 173." The Hokage's eyebrows rose in surprise. He hadn't thought Danzo would stoop quite that low, but apparently he had been wrong. Making a quick decision, the Hokage nodded decisivly.

"Very well," he said, sounding very old. "Accept the boy's help, but I don't think that I have to tell you how careful you must be." The Sandaime's eyes were the epitome seriousness as they bored into Itachi's own, trying to convey the severity of the situation. He did not want the lives of these two young children, no matter how skilled, on his hands.

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Itachi said with a bow, before shunshinning out of the room.

. . .

Midori had never been so relieved as the time when the Anbu spy returned and accepted his offer of help. And while Midori couldn't directly tell him anything to do with Danzo or ROOT due to the seal on his tongue, he was able to show the spy where the trainees' section was. From there, the spy was able to observe what went on while hidden by his impressive genjutsu. The two of them established a place where they could leave each other messages inside a hidden niche in one of the less used corridors. It was far from a perfect system, but it worked well enough.

As they worked together, a gradual bond of trust grew between the two young shinobi, though Midori had yet to reveal his secret name to the spy, and had still not seen the spy's face or heard his name. Midori was hesitant to become close to someone he barely knew, especially after the pain of having Aoki so cruelly taken from him.

. . .

Itachi waited in No. 173 in his room, feeling slightly anxious. He knew that the younger boy was probably late due to an unexpected or extended mission for ROOT. It wasn't the first time something of this nature had occured. There had even been days when the boy was completely absent because of a mission. All the same, Itachi was very relieved when the door to No. 173's room opened and a familiar small figure walked in. As soon as the door was closed and the mask was off, the ROOT Anbu seemed to shrink wearily into himself, and he clearly favored his left leg. Itachi stood and guided the fatigued boy to the bed and began dressing his wounds. This was the worst Itachi had ever seen No. 173 upon returning from a mission, and he didn't like it one bit.

"Why did you betray ROOT?" Itachi asked the question he'd been curious about since the boy had requested to help him spy. No. 173 looked at him sharply before turning his gaze to the floor as Itachi bandaged a small cut on his right arm. When Itachi had finished, the boy began to sign.

{I was never loyal to ROOT in the first place, so I don't consider it a betrayal.} His arms drooped wearily as they moved through the air. {My whole life ROOT has only ever taken from me. My childhood, my free will, my brother. I was never given a name by them, not even a number until I was initiated. My brother, Aoki, gave me the name Midori. He was the only person I ever had a close relationship with, the only one who ever truly cared about me. He died.} Midori didn't cry, but Itachi could clearly see the pain in the small boy's eyes as he revealed a part of his past. Neither of them spoke for a while.

After a few moments of silence, Itachi moved. His hand rose slowly to his porcelain Anbu mask, grasped the edge carefully, and removed it, placing it carefully on the bed beside him. Midori stared at the face that had been revealed to him for the first time, taking in the sight with a tight feeling in the back of his throat. "My name is Uchiha Itachi," the spy told Midori. It was the ultimate sign of trust among Anbu to reveal their identity to someone, and that Itachi trusted him so much made a light feeling rise in his stomach. Itachi was, unsurprisingly, older than him, but only by a few years. Not nearly what Midori would have expected of an elite shinobi.

The Uchiha's eyes were black with his sharingan inactive, set in a well-structured face with snowy skin. Two lines made their way down his cheeks from under each eye, adding a slightly exotic look, which was only enhanced by the teenager's long inky black hair. Itachi was extremely good looking, Midori noted absently, the small smile on his face caused by the first positive emotion he'd had since Aoki had been killed.

Itachi had been nervous about revealing his identity, but it was worth when he saw the younger boy smile for the first time. When he saw Midori smile, Itachi wasn't able - nor would he have wanted to if he was - to stop himself from drawing the small boy close to him in a hug, much like he did with his younger brother whenever Sasuke would let him get away with it. Midori was surprised and tense at first, but once he realized what was happening, he relaxed into the hug to the best of his abilities, a feeling of warmth growing in his chest.

The pair only got closer after Itachi's show of trust. Midori couldn't find it in his heart to see Itachi as a brother, like Aoki had been, but Itachi was his best friend. They were similar in that they were taught from a young age to hide, if not kill, their emotions. Both had been pushed to the brink and forced to become strong. When they were within the walls of Midori's small room, they were allowed to forget the constant danger their lives were in, the fear of being caught. Itachi described his family, his otouto in particular, to Midori, and Midori told Itachi stories of his aniki in return. When Itachi first learned of his clan's betrayal, Midori was the only one to see his pain and comfort him, while internally going over all the various methods of torture he had learned to inflict upon the clan that had caused his only living precious person so much pain. Midori was the only one to see his tears when he was forced to kill Shisui.

. . .

Midori was reading a scroll detailing a new medical jutsu when Itachi entered his room for an unscheduled visit as silently as a shadow. He knew immediately that something was wrong from the anguished look in Itachi's eyes. "The Council had made its decision," Itachi said without preamble. "My clan is to be put to death for treason." Midori immediately walked to his friend, slipping his small hand into Itachi's bigger one and guiding him to the bed to sit. "There is enough proof against Danzo to act," Itachi said looking into Midori's eyes as the small boy tensed. "The story will be that I went mad and slaughtered my clan and Danzo before fleeing the village." Midori instantly reacted, shaking his head violently.

{It isn't worth it if you have to leave!} the child signed vehemently, dropping his tight grip on Itachi's hand. For once, the nine year old looked like the lost and frightened child that he was. {Don't leave!} Itachi pulled Midori's smaller body into a hug with a sad sigh, dropping his chin on Midori's shoulder.

"Even if we didn't move against ROOT now, I'd still have to leave. My mission while I'm out of the village will be to spy on a new organization called Akatsuki. As we speak, several Anbu teams are executing my clan and planting evidence that it was me. Soon even more Anbu will be here to take members of ROOT into custody, and I'll have to go kill Danzo. I promise that I'll keep in contact with you. I'll send you letters with my crows. There's nothing that can be done about it, understand?" Itachi asked, allowing himself to bask in the comfort of Midori's hug for a moment when the smaller boy nodded hesitantly into his chest. All too soon though, he had to pull away. "I have to go now," Itachi said regretfully. "Can you take me to Danzo?" Itachi asked as orders began to come through his comm unit. Anbu had arrived at the underground base.

. . .

A few hours later, Midori stood next to Itachi in front of the Hokage's desk. The boy was understandably shell shocked. After hours of battle Itachi, his best friend, had managed to kill Danzo, the man who had slain his aniki in cold blood. Then he had taken his first free steps out of the ROOT headquarters, and now stood in front of the man he had decided he truly served as a shinobi of Konohagakure. The wise old man looked at him kindly.

"As I see it, Midori-kun, you have several options," the Hokage said. "You can become a civilian if you wish, since you were never given a choice in becoming a ninja. I'm certain there would be civilian family's that would be willing to take you in. If that doesn't appeal to you, you could remain on your current path as a shinobi, either by immediately entering the ranks, or by entering the Ninja Academy, to be with children of your age." Midori shuffled nervously, tightening the grip he had on Itachi's hand and looking up at the older boy anxiously. Itachi nodded in encouragement, squeezing his hand with a ghost of a smile on his lips. Taking a deep, fortifying breath, Midori reluctantly let go of the Uchiha's hand, lifting his own to sign.

{I'd like to go to the Academy.}

A/N: Just to make sure everyone knows for sure, Midori/Harry is not Sai. The reason Midori cannot talk is because he has conversion disorder. Conversion disorder is when a psychological trauma causes the loss of a physical function, and yes, one of those physical functions is the loss of the ability to speak. If you're curious, all you need to do is look it up. I hope you all liked this chapter, and if you're interested, please check out my other stories.