Hearing the answer, Logan relaxed and stretched lazily, "In other words, no one will disturb us, huh? Nice work, Itachi."
While he wasn't sure how it was done, he knew it must have taken long-term preparation to pull it off without leaving a trace. Logan mentally gave Itachi a thumbs-up.
Under the moonlight, the two stood at opposite ends of the rooftop, much like when they had first met… back then, they had just returned from training outside the village, the Uchiha incident hadn't happened yet, and both were still in Konoha. Now, so much had changed.
When the air fell silent, the vast night and the scattered lights from the buildings deepened the atmosphere.
Time seemed to condense into a single moment, and both of them felt the weight of how much things had changed.
"Hey, you two!"
Suddenly, an angry shout came from below, "The ones on the roof… yeah, I'm talking to you!"
Both of them froze simultaneously and looked down. At the entrance of the building they were standing on, a figure had emerged unnoticed in the darkness.
The innkeeper was furious and asked, "What are you doing standing on someone else's roof? What's your deal?"
'I'd already tolerated an unlucky customer during the day, and now he had to deal with this at night?' The innkeeper planted his hands on his hips, "Wait right there. Don't you dare run."
"Thieves… someone call the guards…" The innkeeper shouted, and then went into the store to get a kitchen knife.
"..."
Logan and Itachi exchanged a glance, and both saw the awkwardness in each other's eyes.
"See? I told you standing up so high would get us caught." Logan said, spreading his hands and giving Itachi a 'this-is-your-fault' look, quickly shifting the blame.
"That doesn't seem particularly relevant." Itachi retorted.
"Let's go. We should change locations. This really isn't the best place to talk."
"Okay."
By the time the innkeeper stormed out with his kitchen knife, pointing the knife at the roof, the figures were already gone.
"Huh? Where'd they go?" The innkeeper snorted through his nose, "Lucky you ran fast, or I'd have shown you why the flowers are so red today."
He twirled the knife… he'd trained in his youth, after all. Back in the day, he was known as the Bloody Butcher.
"Wait a minute, did one of those two look familiar?" The innkeeper frowned, trying to recall. The dim light made it hard to see clearly, "And the other one… the clothes he was wearing..."
Clang!
"Ah—!"
The kitchen knife slipped from his hand, and the flowers turned very red indeed.
…
In a secluded alley, Logan landed smoothly after a series of jumps.
A figure followed closely behind, "Itachi, I was just saying..."
Logan chuckled as he spoke, and when he turned, he saw Itachi's figure staggering.
The smile on his face vanished, and he quickly reached out to steady Itachi's arm.
He was baffled, 'We had only used basic Body Flickers and a slight increase in speed… Such movement that should've been effortless.'
"What's wrong with you?"
"Hah…" Itachi hunched slightly, but by the time he straightened up, his expression was back to normal, "It's nothing."
"Really?" Logan wasn't about to let it slide with just that, "You don't look like it's 'nothing' right now..."
Suddenly, Logan's expression changed and he frowned. He thought of the plot in the original work, 'Using the Mangekyo Sharingan placed immense strain on the body. Itachi is very talented and had awakened the legendary Mangekyo Sharingan early, but he was also cursed… the toll he took accumulated over time, eventually reaching a critical point...'
'Especially during the brothers' final battle. I recalled Itachi has frequent coughing fits and he also unable to dodge simple shuriken.'
"It's just a minor physical issue." Itachi said, maintaining his calm demeanor as he gently pulled his arm free from Logan's grip.
With that, he started walking toward the alley's exit.
"Hey, hold on a second."
Itachi stopped and glanced back, waiting obediently for the question, forcing a faint smile.
Logan hesitated to speak. He'd been ready to scold him, as this was one of Itachi's flaws, overthinking and bottling up all the negative, painful things inside.
But seeing that rare smile, knowing Itachi had come here to spend time with someone who could lighten his burdens, even just a little… Logan couldn't bring himself to reprimand him.
Under the dim yellow streetlight at the alley's entrance, two shadows stretched across the ground.
"What is it, senpai?"
"Hahaha, I just thought that since this is a rare reunion, we shouldn't just chat for a bit in some remote wilderness outside the village and call it a day, right? Let's go grab a meal… Have you eaten yet?"
"This..." Itachi had indeed planned exactly that, as it was safe and efficient. He opened his mouth, about to refuse, but...
"I haven't eaten."
"Perfect timing then." Logan tapped his left palm with his right fist, "The izakaya should still be open at this hour."
"Senpai." Itachi said solemnly and strictly, "I can only stay for a day or two at most."
"Relax, it's my treat."
Wrapping an arm around Itachi, Logan pulled him along, "Oh, you'll need to change out of that uniform… it's way too eye-catching."
"My clothes..."
"You're wearing something underneath, right? Just take it off..." Logan said dismissively, "By the way, I never really wore the organization's uniform much. There's this terrifying rumor about it..."
"A rumor? I've never heard anyone mention that." Itachi replied as he was urged to remove his black cloak with red clouds pattern, revealing a dark gray tracksuit and vest underneath.
"I'll tell you after a drink..."
Though it was late and most people had already turned in, as a major city, Dosei City still had a few establishments open deep into the night.
The streets were quiet. After wandering through nearly half the district, Logan finally spotted an izakaya with its sign still lit and eagerly ushered Itachi inside.
Itachi sighed and glanced up at the unfamiliar sign. He rarely found himself in such places.
But under Logan's insistent urging, he reluctantly followed. His Akatsuki robe was already stashed away, though both of them still wore their cloaks.
"Senpai, this is really too much trouble..."
"Boss, do you have skewers here? How about crayfish?"
A few tables were still occupied, mostly by middle-aged men… either overworked or henpecked by their wives. They glanced briefly at the two cloaked men who had just entered before losing interest.
Amid the clamor and some stumbling, Logan and Itachi finally settled into their seats.
The waiter wiped down their table with a rag, and dishes gradually arrived. In the end, neither of them drank, as Itachi wasn't accustomed to it, while Logan simply didn't like the taste.
They ate for a while, sipping on drinks, avoiding serious topics and sticking to trivial matters. None of the urgent decisions that needed to be made were discussed, leaving the conversation bland and uneventful.
Just like the water in Itachi's cup. Yet, Itachi found the atmosphere pleasant.
Only after two groups of customers had left did Logan finally set down his chopsticks. His expression turned serious as he gestured toward Itachi's eyes, "Tell me about it."
"I know a little about the Uchiha Clan's Mangekyo Sharingan. Don't try to lie or downplay it… what's really going on with your body?"