"Itsuki-chaaaan!"

Itsuki opens the door to his house and gets hugged. He spends a very, very confused minute there, thinking who?

Anko is behind him, so the female voice isn't hers. Orochimaru is also behind him, so the long hair he feels around his arms isn't his, either.

Who else-- ah.

"Wait, Kushina, don't just run up and hug him, he'll be startled," why on earth is Minato in his house? Is his house the new hangout spot of the town? Get out already, it's been like weeks. "Itsuki-kun, that's Kushina. She just came back from her mission."

At this point, Itsuki is in the air. Kushina, she's got the might of a gorilla or sum, just lifts him off the ground like he's a baby.

"Ohhh, my poor little Itsuki-chan, being left alone with Minato of all people."

Kushina?? 

Oh right. Time travel.

"Kushina-nee," he addresses, then he's put down, and Kushina pats him on the head like she's praising him. Or treating him like a kid, he's not sure.

"I'm back!" Kushina says, and Itsuki jerks back because he doesn't expect her voice to be an inch from his face. When did Kushina crouch down.

He jerks back, and he knocks into a pair of knees.

Orochimaru's hands are on his shoulder when the man chastises the lady. "He's unable to sense you well, Kushina. Do warn him before making sudden movements."

And Kushina chuckles, sheepish.

Itsuki calms down to spread out his chakra again. Needing to do this every time is a bit of a hassle... and he feels it clearly.

Kakashi is furthest. Minato is a little closer, around where the dining table should be. Then Kushina-- and her chakra, once he touches it, makes him stiffen.

It's strong.

And just a little, it burns. It's not a hot burn-- it's the kind of little prickle you feel when you take hot toast off a pan. Prickly, but contained.

Itsuki's always linked the heat to Kushina's warm personality.

But now that he remembers it in Naruto's little antics, Itsuki can't help but sense the connection between the orange wisps and the monster in her stomach.

"Kushina!" Anko cheers, "how was your dumb job?"

"It was dumb," Kushina responds easily, her smile clear in her voice. She stands up, presumably to reach toward the table. "I brought home a souvenir for you."

"No," Minato immediately interrupts, "Kushina, you are not giving her that vial of poison."

"Poison?!" Anko and Itsuki say in unison, though one voice is significantly more terrified than the other.

"I'm interested," Orochimaru says with a glimmer of mischief in his voice.

Itsuki turns around to tug at his clothes, "NO!"

The laugh it rubs out of the crowd is embarrassing, but Itsuki is still barking.

"Kushina-nee, don't bring weird things into my house! Anko, I said yes to snakes, but no to the poisonous ones! Kushina-nee, stop encouraging her! She's not a Genin yet!" Itsuki's chakra spikes and she's laughing in the general direction of wherever he hopes is right.

Kushina's been laughing for a while, and Anko joins in.

If Itsuki could see, he would've seen the way Orochimaru and Minato share a relieved glance, smiling at the sight.

-

-

"Itsuki."

He stopped. Turning around, he picked his ANBU mask away from his face, a cold eye staring down at the girl before him.

"Anko," he addresses.

They stood two trees away, on branches that were nearly the same height. But Itsuki was up higher.

Anko's smile was weary, like she didn't know how to confront him anymore. Looking away, her legs shuffled with discomfort.

"It's been a while since you were back," she started the conversation. "I heard from Sandaime-sama that you were free for a while, so... wanna catch up?"

Itsuki's gaze on her is cold, and she recognizes that look.

His body is stiff, still, standing in such a farce of strong-- and Anko knows it's anything but.

"Sorry, Anko. Can't do today. How about tomorrow?"

Shinobi need time to recuperate after missions. Mentally, physically, psychologically. It's common sense to give them time if they ask for it, and Anko knew that.

"Promise?" Anko asked instead, sounding oddly like a child. She was a Jounin now. A TokuJou, even. Why was she acting so spoiled?

Itsuki's eyes narrow-- not in scrutiny, but like he's forcing something down inside. And he nodded. He didn't give her another vocal answer, he just turned and jumped away.

He didn't make two steps into his house before he fell into himself, curling up with a strangled sob.

The red scales on his back pulsed.

The agony never ended.

-

"There's no way to get the chakra coils in your eyes working again," Hyuuga Hizashi tells him, "once severed, it never returns."

Itsuki sighs. It's not as if he was having any sliver of hope, but it's still upsetting to have it be put into words like that.

It's strange to feel his chakra again-- Hyuuga Hizashi, the late brother of the Hyuuga Clan head. Itsuki always looked at him fondly. He had his eye on the boy for his Sensory capabilities, but never reached in because he was not of the Hyuuga bloodline.

That apparently meant Hizashi often came by Itsuki's training with snarky-sounding comparisons, only for Itsuki to pick up on a hidden critique and use it to further his skills.

("Is he a Tsundere?!" Itsuki throws his hands up in defeat, pointing sharply at the man's retreating figure. Genma laughs.)

Well, until he died an early death, that is.

Anyways, Itsuki bows down and thanks him for his input. If that was all the Hyuuga had to say, then he has no reason to remain here any longer. He excuses himself.

"Itsuki-kun," Hizashi speaks up again when Itsuki is led out the door by a servant.

Itsuki turns around.

"A blind shinobi is a dead shinobi," Hizashi tells him, and Itsuki feels an irritation boil in his stomach. "It's a saying that goes down the line of Konohagakure, from the founders until today. Your mother wholeheartedly believed so as well."

Itsuki doesn't say anything. To deny or fight back would be impudent, and he wasn't in the position or mental state to handle that kind of pressure.

And in a moment, he finds that his choice to abstain from his emotions is the right one.

"Remember, Itsuki," Hizashi tells him, his voice strangely close. Itsuki feels a hand on his head, and a palm caress his cheek in a tender, fatherly way. "Even if you cannot see, never let yourself be blinded."

Itsuki is left stunned when Hizashi walks back to his seat, not saying anything further.

He spends his night pondering upon the meaning of those words.