Itachi stood perfectly still. Using nothing but his chakra and the long thin branch he stood upon, he balanced on top of the lake.
Six months had passed since he had woken up on this island. Waiting was something he was intimately familiar with, but it still did nothing to offset the dragging boredom that plagued him. The six months hadn't been in vain though. He had grown quite strong in that time or at least strong enough to easily carry two deer carcasses while dragging a third one behind him.
For the past six months, his routine had been rather consistent. Wake up. Jog around the island. Work on some chakra exercises. Eat. Meditate. Train. Hunt or gather. Check traps. Meditate some more. For another run. Eat. Think about his current situation. Sleep. Repeat.
All in all, life was quite monotonous. He had already explored the entire island within his first three days there. With nothing else to do other than think too many thoughts, Itachi decided to get stronger.
The lithe muscle he used to have on his frame now quite a bit larger and all the more powerful. Sadly, most of his clothes had been worn out with his training, so he had to make do with stitching together some of the animal pelts he had made to pass off as adequate covering. His cloak, however, was still in almost perfect condition. He had folded it and left it on a shelf in his hut, untouched since his second day on the island.
He trained his chakra control and his kenjutsu mostly, but would occasionally work on his ninjutsu. He was quite proud of himself in all honesty. He could climb the sheer face of the mountain using nothing but chakra and his two index fingers. He could hold on to the side of a tree with just one hand. He could crush rocks in his hand and slice through them with his sword (with chakra of course). During his meditations, he could sense the natural energy of the world, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't seem to draw it to himself. He concluded that the sealing contracts with summons was more complex than he had originally thought. That or the natural energy of this world wasn't chakra and as such, he did not know how to manipulate it. He let those thoughts drift away as he focused on his meditation.
Ah. Too late. His time was up.
With a small sigh, Itachi opened his eyes and deftly hopped off the branch onto the water. Grabbing the branch before it could sink, he slung it over his shoulder and padded slowly to the shoreline. "Hopefully my traps have something good in them today," he mused to himself. He should probably go and grab some more fruit from the copse of trees he had found last month.
Leaning the branch against his hut, he went inside to grab the little woven basket he had made for himself. Walking back out and into the forest, Itachi headed to one of two traps that he had managed to set up. Both were meant for small game, but he had very rarely caught anything in them much to his own annoyance. Although the deer were plentiful on this island, he was starting to get quite tired of their meat. The birds that flew around were far too small to eat and weren't worth the time or energy to kill. He trod silently through the forest and as he neared the first trap, he heard rustling as something struggled. Elated , Itachi quickened his pace and came into view of the trap, of which had a rather large rabbit caught in it. Catching sight of Itachi, it struggled even more, but with quick, practiced ease, he broke its neck. Untangling its leg from the trap, he threw the rabbit into his basket and then reset the trap with new bait. Checking up on the second trap yielded nothing, but stolen bait. Itachi huffed in annoyance, but kneeled to bait and reset it.
He was in the midst of collecting two or three of the heavy fruits that grew on the island when he heard a yell in the distance. He perked up ears straining to pick up any other sound.
Loud and rambunctious laughter sailed through the air.
Itachi's eyes widened when he realized that there were people on his island. People that could tell him where he was, and most importantly people with a ship that could take him away from here.
Quickly jumping off the tree that he was attached to, he dumped the gathered fruit into his basket and rushed in the direction of the laughter.
He slowed to a walk when he was close to them. Through the shrubs, he could make out three of them walking up the beach, one of them the owner of the loud, boisterous laugh. The other two seemed to be chatting amicably, smiling and nodding to whatever conversation was between the three of them.
He stepped out of the treeline.
Immediately, after catching sight of him, their surprise evident on their faces, the three men dropped into more tighter stances, ready to fight at a moments notice. Itachi set his basket down and raised his hands in peace.
"Hello there," he said with a pleasant smile on his face, "My name is Uchiha Itachi and I seem to have been stuck on this island for six months."
The 3 men relaxed although slightly confused.
"Rellu?" one of them said uncertainly.
Doubt began to gnaw at the back of Itachi's mind.
With the smile still on his face he reiterated slower, "My name is Uchiha Itachi. Do you happen to know where this island is?"
One of the men opened his mouth and something came out. Words that he did not understand.
Itachi's heart sank. They didn't speak the same language. Another piece of evidence that he was nowhere near the Elemental Nations or in the Pure Land.
Itachi stared at the three men and they stared right back.
He waved at them and they waved right back. They had released their weapons and taken on a more relaxed stance. Itachi thought hard of how he could mime to them his intentions.
He looked down at his basket and reached for one of the fruits. He felt the eyes of the three men following him warily, until he pulled the fruit out and mimed eating it. To further drive the point home, he rubbed his stomach and made a satisfied 'Mmmmmm' sound.
One of the men laughed and shook his head. He mimed drinking something and said a word with it, probably 'drink' or 'water'. Itachi nodded his head in hopeful understanding and beckoned them to follow him. Once again, the man in the center laughed, while the other two looked annoyed.
He led them back to his humble little hut, with its little trinkets and the small garden in front of it and all of the other little things that he had accumulated or made in his stay on the island. The three men looked on with interest at the hut, his pelt drying station, the little handmade jars and pots that held his food and other such items. The bone carvings that hung along the outside and the long thin branch leaning against the hut. Their eyes settled on him standing by the lake and one of the men laughed and ribbed the one to his left.
Standing there watching them, Itachi finally got a real good look at the three men in front of him. The one in the middle has a tall man with a blonde pompadour, an easy grin on his lips and a sword at his hip. The man to his left was blonde as well although his hair was more reminiscent of those of the Nara clan, with a similar passive, bored look upon his face. The final man was quite beautiful, dressed in a flowing kimono, well-kept hair and masterfully done makeup on his face. Even the sword at his hip was a beautiful piece of work. Itachi could honestly say he had mistaken the man for a woman at first, but if it weren't for the Sharingan he wouldn't have noticed a certain…bulge below the sash.
Itachi kept the pleasant smile on his face and backed off to his hut as they walked towards the waterline to test the water. Putting down the basket, he turned to see the three men wake their way to his hut. He stood patiently and waited for them as they entered and looked around. He did not miss how all three noted the sword leaning on the far side of the wall and the small stack of kunai and shuriken lying on a shelf. The pompadour man, his interest satisfied, stepped forward and pointed at himself and very slowly said.
"Thaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttch."
And gave a thumbs up. Then he pointed to the other blonde.
"Maaaaaaarrrrrrrccccccooooo."
Another thumbs up. Then the beautiful one.
"Izzzzzzzzzzzooooooooo."
A final thumbs up and a smile. The two, Marco and Izo, looked quite annoyed at that introduction, while the pompadour, Thatch, looked quite pleased with himself. He then looked at Itachi, an obvious question in his eyes.
Itachi dipped his head, "Uchiha Itachi."
Thatch looked confused, "Uhia Apache?"
Izo smacked the back of his head, annoyance in his eyes, and corrected Thatch, "U-CHI-ha I-TA-CHI."
There were some extra words attached that Itachi didn't understand, but he could understand from Izo's tone and Thatch's sheepishness, that it had been somewhat insulting. Izo turned back to Itachi, the look in his eyes softening and he bowed. Itachi was surprised to see such a familiar action and bowed right back.
Warmth flooded into Izo's eyes, and he started to talk. Itachi tried to listen, but he could only pick up a name: Wano. He didn't know whether it was a concept, place or person, so he shook his head apologetically and said, "I'm sorry, but I really don't understand what you are trying to say." Disappointment crept into Izo's eyes, but he nodded in understanding. Marco said something that drew both Thatch's and Izo's attention and they nodded in agreement. Izo turned back to Itachi and made a motion to follow them, a questioning look upon his face.
Follow us?
Itachi nodded his understanding and followed them.
They walked back to the beach that Itachi had first met them and it was then that he saw the huge ship docked a little ways out from the island shore. Izo pointed at it and said a single word slowly.
Itachi repeated it and pointed at the big ship. Izo nodded affirmatively. Itachi then pointed at the small boat they had on the beach and then said the same thing. Izo smiled and nodded his head again. Izo then pointed at himself and his comrades, made a follow motion, pointed at Itachi and then pointed at the ship, saying the word.
Do you want to follow us to our ship?
Feelings of gratitude radiated from Itachi's chest and he nodded his head. He hadn't sensed any ill will from the three and they seemed quite the friendly bunch. He would not mind that much to follow them to their ship.
Itachi was packing in his hut having motioned for the three men to wait for him on the beach. He placed everything that he had taken out of his weapons pouch back in it and placed it in a different basket, he grabbed some of his "clothes" as well as his cloak and placed them next to his pouch. He sealed his cooking utensils and some of the food he had made into two scrolls and put those in the basket as well. He reached out and grabbed his sword and stepped out, he snagged the loop of bone carvings off the hut and slung them over his shoulder. Stepping back and looking at what had been his home for half a year, he bowed and whispered his thanks. Flashing through a set of hand seals, that humble little hut crumbled back into the earth.
He walked back to the beach and upon reaching it, was greeted to the sight of more boats beached on the sand, each with a multitude of barrels (most likely to be refilled with water from the lake). There were more people there, laughing and joking it seemed, with Thatch, while Marco and Izo seemed to direct the rest. Upon seeing him, Thatch yelled out a greeting causing everyone else to turn and look at him. He waved back, that pleasant smile once again settled on his face as Izo smacked Thatch once again.
Izo waved Itachi over, said something to Marco, and began to walk to one of the boats. Itachi followed him, stepping into the boat that Izo gracefully sat in. Once he had settled down, the two other crew members in the boat began to row towards the big ship in the distance.
Itachi smiled at Izo.
And he smiled back.
The ship was even larger than Itachi could ever have imagined. Nothing he had ever seen in the Elemental Nations could match the sheer size of the ship Izo asked him to get on to. Men and women rushed about the deck, while some just sat and relaxed. The atmosphere was quite homely if Itachi was to be honest. It felt like his mother's home cooking if he were to describe it at all. Everyone seemed happy and content.
Izo continued to weave through his crewmates, Itachi following suit. Eventually, they reached the front of the ship where Itachi came to view the largest man he had ever seen. His torso alone was probably taller than Itachi. Quite obviously, this was Izo's captain, the respect, admiration and love in his eyes solidifying that observation. The huge man looked down at them, love, and care for Izo and curiosity as his eyes shifted to Itachi.
They conversed for a bit. Itachi looked around taking note of the medical equipment hooked up to the man and the nurses constantly fretting over him. A large booming laugh brought his attention back to the man's face, his eyes filled with interest and curiosity. Itachi's eyes flicked towards Izo, whose eyes were filled with mirth and mischief.
He pointed at Itachi. Then pointed at the deck. Then pointed at Itachi. Then pointed at the island.
Do you wish to stay on the ship or go back to the island?
The deck was silent as all eyes were on him. He smiled warmly at Izo and pointed at the deck.
The deck shook with the cheers and stamping of the crew.
"What an interesting place with such interesting people."
"This'll be fun Itachi-kun."