Itanaru “An Eye For An Eye” ?
An ItaNaru spin on a previously posted draft/idea, as requested!
Summary: After clashing with Tobi over something that wasn't even worth fighting over to begin with, Itachi hits his head and wakes up with no memory of the last ten years. Panicking and with no idea what's going on or where he is, Itachi does the only thing he can think to- he goes home.
🐦⬛ Itachi loses his memory and when he sees his slashed headband, he assumes he's on some undercover mission. With his memory compromised, the correct thing to do would be to forego the mission and go home to regroup, so he does. He goes straight back to the Hokage.
🐦⬛ Imagine his surprise when he shows up and his baby brother has gone rogue from the village, his family is dead, and he's promptly arrested for something he doesn't even remember doing. And now he's freaking the hell out because he would never. He would never kill his clan.
🐦⬛ Tsunade knows something isn't right, and so do Shikaku Nara and Inoichi Yamanaka. She can't in good conscience imprison and sentence him to death— especially not with how suspicious Danzo is being about it. He never did like the Uchiha, so why is he insisting so hard now that the "great clan" needs justice?
🐦⬛ The timeline is slightly adjusted/warped to make better room for the plot. The Fourth Great war is slated to start after Sasuke kills Itachi, and in this AU, Sasuke is eighteen going on nineteen years old and still hasn't managed to corner him. Mostly, this is because Itachi is balancing on a thin line, wanting to keep an eye on the Akatsuki to send reports back to Konoha and make sure his younger brother is strong enough to handle what comes next.
🐦⬛ Itachi is placed under the watch of the one person who could combat his Sharingan in an emergency. He's put under Kakashi's care, and by proxy, we all know who else is around.
🐦⬛ Naruto is standoffish at first, but he's also always been weirdly good at reading people. It doesn't take him long to realize Itachi isn't a bad person. In fact, he seems like a great guy! Emotionally stable, well-rounded, kind— which begs the question, why the hell did he massacre his entire family?
🐦⬛ Go figure, Itachi was wondering the same thing. He insists he would never, with such certainty that even Kakashi is like "okay, then what the hell happened to make him snap and suddenly do it for as psychotic a reason as power?"
🐦⬛ Naruto, now determined to prove Itachi's innocence and bring Sasuke home, delves straight into it. And how could Itachi not start to feel things?
🐦⬛ Naruto is bright and loud and so full of love. He cares about Sasuke, sees him as family, and believes he's worth saving. Beyond being united by a common goal, he's the only one that can look Itachi in the eye, too. He's the only one who fully takes Itachi's words to heart and actually does something about it.
🐦⬛ Naruto doesn't speculate or theorize. He goes and looks for the truth. He doesn't nervously consider the possibility and move on like Sakura, or scratch their head like Kakashi, or frown like Lady Tsunade. He cracks his knuckles and gets his hands dirty, and he drags Itachi along for every bump of the ride.
🐦⬛ They dive into it together, and Naruto is there every step of the way. He's fiercely protective of those he calls his friends, determined beyond reason, headstrong, stubborn. Itachi starts to feel things, being so close to him.
🐦⬛ It starts small. Wanting to scoot closer so that their shoulders brush, wanting Naruto to linger at Kakashi's place so they can have more time together. Kakashi notices immediately, being Itachi's chaperone, but he declines to do anything beyond curiously watching it unfold.
🐦⬛ Itachi goes from trying desperately to remember to not trying at all, because he fears he may not be able to stay if he does recall. They say ignorance is bliss, and if ignorance is what let him have Naruto? That saying might just be right.
🐦⬛ Soon, Itachi wants to reach out and touch. Run a hand over Naruto's shoulders and through his hair. Down his back to see how his muscles might flex, and to his waist to see how large his hands might look against the small of it. He wants to listen to him talk not just about finding the truth about the Uchiha clan, but to hear him talk about anything at all.
🐦⬛ Itachi craves more time with him. Naruto is so caring, and he makes Itachi feel so valued. He doesn't expect anything of him, yet thinks the world of what he has done. He grins at his slightest effort, celebrates even the smallest successes. He treats Itachi like a person who's worth something, and Itachi hadn't realized how desperately he needed that until now.
🐦⬛ Naruto rips the truth of the massacre out with his bare teeth and claws it into the spotlight, all to clear Itachi's name. He defends Itachi's name as passionately as he's always defended Sasuke's.
🐦⬛ When Itachi finally does remember, he doesn't say a word. He swallows it all down because Naruto's hand is in his, now. It's too late. The truth is out anyway, so why can't he have this? Why can't he finally, finally have something of his own?
🐦⬛ Itachi had to give up his clan, his honor, his village, his home, even his own brother. But Naruto keeps spending time with him even after his name is cleared. Even after Sasuke comes home, dead-eyed and raging. Even when Itachi is finally allowed out from under Kakashi's watch, Naruto is there, seeking him out. Letting himself be sought out in return.
🐦⬛ Losing his memory was the best thing that could've ever happened to Itachi. The taste of Naruto's lips against his only serves as confirmation of that fact.
