"The heart and soul are closely linked. Your heart reveals what is most precious to you." — Yoruichi Shihōin.
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Itachi parted ways with Yoruichi upon coming to his office, giving her the privacy he was certain she would need for whatever type of conversation she and Soi Fon were about to have.
He sensed them retreat to the courtyard behind the building before retreating even further ahead.
They were not going to have a conversation – he concluded.
Decades worth of frustration, bitterness and unasked questions couldn't be released in a span of a short civil conversation. People express themselves better when fighting.
"And? Why are you still here?" He asked as he sat himself behind his desk.
A silent figure stepped out of the shadow on Itachi's side, a snake mask donning their face. Gin Ichimaru, as always, remained a silent figure.
Itachi gave no visual acknowledgement to the new presence and instead focused on drafting his report of the previous days' event for the Head Captain's perusal.
"I would have thought you would use this chance to rekindle something you once thought lost and forgotten." He raised his head to the slightest angle that enabled him to stare right at the Snake. "Aizen is gone, Snake. You can slither less."
"That's the thing, isn't it Cap'n." The voice behind the mask was one filled with silent frustration and the remnant of hardened resentment. "I don't think I ever knew how. Quite pitiful, don'tcha think?"
"No, I don't." He accentuated his words with the long swish of the scroll he soon started writing on. "There's nothing pitiful about someone's lack of control and knowledge concerning the matters of the heart. It is quite the hard thing to understand."
"Seems like you're just as lost as I am, Cap'n."
"… And whatever does that mean, my stout Snake?"
"Ease up with the glare, will ya? Any more and you'll look even older than you already do." There was mirth to his words which radiated in his posture as he leaned against the wall with arms crossed.
"And yet my question remains unanswered."
There was a somber understanding between man and shadow as one scribbled away while the other watched on in silent contemplation.
"I'm just saying that with your act of silent advocation when it comes to more… heartfelt matters – I feel like gagging already – that you'll be more interested in it. But it seems you're just as lost as I am, maybe even more so."
Itachi sighed. "I prefer it when you speak more with fewer words."
"Heh. No one likes a snake that chats too much it seems."
"Because they are unnerving." A stray glance went Gin's way before swaying back to another fully documented scroll. "You of all people should know that."
This was the most conversation shared between both men in a single moment ever since the Masked Serpent came under the Harbinger of Crows.
The Snake laughed, a rather grating thing for gentle ears.
"Well then. See you around, Cap'n."
And just like that he melded into the shadows and was gone from the office, leaving Itachi alone with his thoughts and his work.
Itachi looked outside his window for a moment and went back to his work.
'You could watch, you know.'
He shook his head, disagreeing with Amaterasu. "I could. But I'm not supposed to. And besides, based on how they're fighting, neither of them are taking it too seriously."
His mind briefly wandered to what the Snake had said but he quickly shook off those thoughts. He was no longer the kind of person who would dismiss sentimentality as a flaw, but instead would embrace it. That is who he was now.
"Passion huh?" He fiddled with the quill in his hands, idly tapping in on the parchment below, not caring as it became smudged with ink, his thoughts venturing into unknown waters.
For the first time in his life, Itachi was confronted with a battlefield he had no experience in. The Clan Killer was left lost in his own mind.
He looked out the window one more time and gave a silent sigh. Maybe one day. Maybe one day soon.
.
.....
.
The sun was halfway set when two figures trudged their way into Itachi's courtyard, dishevelled and ragged breath.
"I see that you both had quite the time to yourselves."
Burnt marks, soot, flesh wounds, a few broken bones here and there, torn fabrics and dried blood were the new appearance that greeted him when they came into view.
"What the hell did you teach her?" Yoruichi asked as plopped down beside him and snatched the gourd out of his hand. "Oh? This is some good stuff! I didn't know you drink like this."
"You would know if you had been around long enough." Soi Fon bit back aggressively. It was pretty clear that it was still too soon for them to go back to how they used to be.
"Come on, Soi Fon! I thought we'd already put that past us. I even let you hit me a few more times for consolation."
Soi Fon regarded Yoruichi with a dry gaze that bordered on a frigid glare. "Excuse me? You let me hit you?"
Yoruichi adopted a condescending smirk that made it clear that she was purposefully edging her on. And Soi Fon was either too far gone in her hostile emotions to take notice, or she knew what Yoruichi was doing but was too hot-headed to care.
The two women looked as if they were about to resume their fight before a crisp clap struck the air and refocused their attention.
"Oh come on, she was just about to rise to the bait and I would have had another chance to make her eat my dust."
Soi Fon scoffed. "Please, Lady Yoruichi. I'm not that gullible. I'd be more ashamed of myself if a simple taunt was all it took to rile me up."
With her piece said, she gave Itachi a nod, turned around and left the two of them to their own.
"She's strong, isn't she?" Itachi asked after Soi Fon left.
Yoruich gave an unladylike snort. "She's terrifying. That's what she is."
"Let me see."
At Itachi's prompt, Yoruichi ripped off the remaining tatters of what remained of her sleeves.
Her arms were covered in a nasty bruise and she stonefaced through a wince when Itachi held it.
"It's broken. In eight different places."
"Busted is what it is." She took her arms back in a casual motion, the pain of it being a mere afterthought. "I suspected, but I wasn't sure of how destructive her attacks could be. I blocked the first five paces, that was enough to let me know not to continue encouraging her hits."
"So you didn't let her hit you?" Itachi asked.
She snorted again. "As if I'm that dumb." She fell on her back, laying down under the shade of the tree as her fingers went up and caught a falling leaf between her fingers. "Heh. Seeing her so ruthless almost made me sad that I wasn't here from the beginning."
"Hmm."
She looked up to see Itachi looking down at her, making her quirk her eyes inquisitively. "What? Got something on my face?"
And then her eyes morphed into a sly smirk. "Or don't tell me, are you finally seeing my–"
"When are you going home? Your brother sent me a message just earlier today." Itachi cut her off, but judging from the ever-present smile still on her face, she knew he knew where she was going with that question. Alas he was too bricked up in his emotional defences for it to affect him.
"Yūshirō?" She tapped her lips, a thoughtful look creeping up on her face only for it to disappear as she shrugged. "I'll drop by later. I'm sure those damned stuffy old men must be running on their heads now that they know I'm back. Meh, whatever."
"Can you be less cavalier about it? Your brother wants to see you." Itachi said before he stood up and left.
Yoruichi looked confused, not knowing why the mood suddenly changed. "Seriously, Itachi..." she muttered to herself.
If she was another person then maybe she might have had a little introspection about why he acted like that, but she wasn't. She was Yoruichi.
"He'll deal with his issues himself." She said before chuckling to herself. "In the meantime, I have to find a place to crash. I'm no longer a Captain, or a Clan Head, damn Yoruichi! You are really moving up in the world."
Unlike whatever Itachi might think, she was not relocating back to her clan, no matter what her brother and the clan elders would want to say.
Yoruichi Shihōin was back. And she planned to laze around for the next century like the lazy cat that she was.