Itachi Rebirth: A Shinigami Tale

Itachi and Itsuki walk down the hallway to their classroom.

"Hey, wait!" Itsuki stopped Itachi.

"We should change into our robes, mine are somewhat decent, but your clothes are completely torn" Itsuki suggested.

Itachi nodded and went to the bathroom at the end of the hall and changed his rags to the shihakusho. By the time Itachi had gotten out, Itsuki had also changed into his uniform. They both then continued on their way to the classroom. As they enter the classroom, they see what looks like a smaller version of the lecture hall they were just in. A few of the other students were already seated. Itsuki heads towards the middle of the class to find a seat but notices Itachi heading towards the back of the class and instead follows him. The two find their seat and watch the other students enter the room. Daiki enters the class and notices Itachi sitting at the back. He glares at Itachi and head towards the front of the classroom. As the last of the students trickling in find their seat, the instructor enters the class. The instructor had the appearance of a middle-aged bald man with glasses and a glowering face.

"I am your instructor, Gengoro Ounabara! This Freshman Class One took the top scores in the entrance exam. In other words, you are in the advanced class! Rather than merely serve your future squads, train hard to excel in your various pursuits!"

The instructor went on for another few minutes about the values of shinigami then goes onto taking roll.

The instructor begins calling out the names of the class 1 students one by one. A couple minutes he calls the last name on his roll "Uchiha, Itachi."

After he finishes the roll, the instructor looks at the students and nods before explaining the rest of the class materials.

"There are four main subjects you will primarily focus on during your six years at the academy. These are Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hoho and lastly, Kido.

"Zanjutsu will entail enhancing your ability to fight with your zanpakutos. The zanjutsu is the basic fighting styles of the zanpakuto. You will receive your asauchi tomorrow. Treat these asauchis as your partners, as you will carry them for the rest of your life. This class will be held in the Zanjutsu training hall, this will be your first class of the day". Ounabara said before taking a brief look at the students. After seeing that everyone was properly paying attention, he continued his lecture.

"The next class will the Hakuda class. This class will teach you an unarmed close combat style of fighting." Ounabara continued.

"Taijutsu..." Itachi thought to himself as listened to the lecture.

"The next class will Hoho. Hoho is a defensive technique vital to shinigami. Once mastered one can traverse great distances with a few steps. Your fourth class will be the kido class. Kido are advanced spells that can be used for direct combat or support. Lastly remember the commandment of the shinigami: Do not seek beauty in battle. Do not seek virtue in death. Do not make the mistake of considering only your own life. If you wish to protect that which you must protect, slice the enemy you must defeat from behind."

Before Ounabara dismisses the class he adds on, "Here at the academy we won't teach you to fight for the sake of your superiors or family. As a shinigami, you should give your life to protect your friends and humanity! That is all for today!" Onoubara finished his lecture before giving the class a reminder.

"Go to the dorm building located on the west side of the academy. Report to the dorm manager and get your room assignment. You may also spend the rest of the day visiting the various facilities that the academy has to offer" Ounabara finally concluded his lecture.

The students gradually make their way through the door to leave the classroom. Itsuki and Itachi head towards the dormitory area.

"Yo Itachi! You think we'll be roommates?" Itsuki asks.

"Not sure." Itachi replies.

The two engage in small talk as they walk to the dorms and are met with multiple lines of people waiting to be admitted. Above the lines are signs dividing up the dorms by year and class number.

"Look Itachi! Class 1 has their own dormitory!" Itsuki points to the line and the building behind it.

Itachi glances at where Itsuki is pointing at and sees a 3 story building that looked much nicer than the others. The duo enter the line and wait for their turn.

A few moments later a voice yells "Next!". Itachi walks up to the desk and presents his identification slip. After glancing it over the receptionist gives Itachi a form to fill out for the rooms. Itachi quickly fills out the form given to him and receives the key to his room.

"You're in dorm 3S."

Itachi takes the key and goes up the stairs to the 3rd floor. He walks down the hall and reaches his room. Upon arriving to his room, he sees a tatami floor, a short legged table with a floor cushion, and a small closet for his things. To the right of the entrance is another door leading to the bathroom. "Small but comfortable." Itachi thinks to himself.

Itachi sits down and opens the book he was given by the receptionist. He carefully studies the map and memorizes where each notable location is such as the training halls and the library. Itachi also skims through the rest of the book which has extra information on the course structure and some of the academy history. When he finishes reading, he puts his book in the closet.

"First I should go to the library to collect more information about this world." He gets up and heads out of the dorm room.

As Itachi leaves the main building of the dormitory, he sees Itsuki being confronted in the courtyard by Daiki.

Itachi immediately heads towards Itsuki.

He turned to Itsuki and asked "Something wrong?"

"I was on my way to the training field and this guy suddenly came up and stopped me!"

Daiki stared at Itachi before saying "Hmph. I told you to remember your place. Just because we are in the same class doesn't mean we are equals."

Itachi remained silent and looked at him as if he was looking at a clown. However, Itsuki could not take it and flared up.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!!"

Daiki turned back to Itsuki.

"I said remember your place, trash!" Daiki said with scorn in his eye.

Itsuki could no longer hold himself back and charged at Daiki. He gathered the reiatsu into his palm and charged at Daiki. The reiatsu orb was much larger than the orb that he made in the forest.

Daiki sneered at this charge and evaded Itsuki's attack with ease. He pivoted around his punch and struck out with his own reiatsu attack. Unlike Itsuki's crude attack, Daiki had a much more refined and concentrated form of reiatsu in his palm as he struck towards Itsuki's c.h.e.s.t. Due to his momentum, Itsuki was unable to dodge in time as he panicked.

However just before Itsuki was struck, a hand reached out from the side and grabbed Daiki's wrist. Daiki was stunned as he saw his attack being stopped with such ease. He turned to the side to see it was Itachi who had grabbed his wrist. He struggled but was unable to free himself from Itachi's grasp.

"You!!!..." Daiki glared at Itachi with malice in his eyes. He prepared to use his left to strike, however a voice interrupted them. "You there!! Stop!" A teacher that patrolling nearby noticed the scuffle before he rushed over. He was very annoyed, since this was the first day and there was conflict between the students. He made his way over and stopped the fight from continuing. He was just about to berate the students when he noticed the kenseikan pin in Daiki's hair.

"Fighting outside the training grounds and arena is forbidden. It's great that you want to test yourself, but do so within the confines of the rules. If the rules are broken again, then you will be punished!" He said to both Itachi and Daiki.

"Hey, that's not fair, this guy started it!" Itsuki suddenly blurted out as he pointed to Daiki.

"I don't care who started it. Break the rules again and you will all be punished." The teacher gave them a stern glare before leaving.

By this time Itachi had already let go of Daiki's hand. Daiki stared hatefully at Itachi.

"Hmph... you got lucky this time." He said before leaving the premises.

"How was that fair? We were only defending ourselves!" Itsuki complained to Itachi.

"It is most likely because of his identity." Itachi replied

"Eh, His identity? What do you mean?" Itsuki questioned.

"When the instructor got close, he looked at his hairpin and paused. Outside the academy he also declared his noble status. It seems that some of the noblemen hold much greater influence here than expected. That instructor didn't want to only punish him so instead he warned the three of us instead."

"But that's not fair!" Itsuki complained.

"In the short time I spent here in Soul Society, I've seen life is far from fair. The souls living here hold onto and worship family names. These things limit us and limit our capacities. It is foolish for them to fear what they have yet to see or know." Itachi replied and reminded Itsuki.

Itsuki clenched his fist then he nodded.

"Thanks for saving me." Itsuki mumbled to Itachi.

Itachi smiled and nodded.

"Watch yourself." Itachi reminded him one last time before bidding farewell and making his way to the library.

-------------------

The library was a small building located near the center of the academy. Most students that joined the academy would focus most of their time with physical or kido training. Many of the noble family children already had access to the information provided in the library. Due to this, the library was rarely frequented in the academy. There was a single receptionist inside the building. Because it was the first day, he didn't expect any visitors. He was lying back on his seat with his eyes closed. He was reading his book, when the door suddenly opened. He was surprised to see that someone actually visited the library during the first day.

Itachi walked up to the receptionist and inquired about the books related to the history and geography of soul society.

"Is there any rule to check out the books" Itachi asked.

"You can only check 3 books as a first year. But you are free to look at as many as you want as long as you are in the library"

Itachi nodded and made his way over to the left side of the library and started browsing through the books.

The receptionist went back to reading his book.

"Coming here was the right choice. The books here contain a much more in depth knowledge about this world." Itachi thought as picked up a multitude of books about the history of Soul Society. After he grabs a large stack, he makes his way to a table and places the books down.

"I can't spend too much time here. There is still the matter of getting stronger." Itachi thought before he activated his sharingan.

His hands moved at a rapid speed flipping through the pages as he continued to read the books. After 30 minutes he had already read 10 books as he put them to the side stacked neatly.

The receptionist, curious at the rustling, looked towards Itachi who was expeditiously flipping through the pages of the book.

"Is he crazy? What the heck is he doing? He looked towards Itachi who was already sweating and breathing heavily in the corner.

"Why is he sweating like crazy reading books?" He thought to himself.

Itachi finally finished the 11th book before his sharingan receded.

*Huff* "It looks like thats my limit for today". He put the books back on the shelf and headed to the exit. He looked at the receptionist and thanked before leaving the library.

"Since I already know where the buildings for the classes are, I should just rest for the day." Itachi turned around and walked back towards the dorm.

He noticed that Itsuki was also making his way over to the dorm and headed towards him.

Itsuki saw the fatigued Itachi approaching and was surprised. "Why does he look so worn out already?"

"Hey, what happened? Where did you go?" Itsuki asked.

"The library. You are back already?" Itachi replied briefly before asking Itsuki.

"Yeah, I just visited the different facilities, I just want to go to sleep. But enough about me, what the heck happened to you. Why are so winded after visiting the library?" Itsuki curiously asked.

"I read a lot of books." Itachi replied before heading to his own dorm.

"Uh...okay?" Itsuki saw that itachi didn't continue and headed to his own room.

Itachi laid down on the mat and stared at the ceiling. "What a long day." Itachi thought to himself before slowly closing his eyes and drifting into sleep.