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You and Itachi arrived in Konohagakure early in the morning - you were quick to disguise yourselves as simple tourists upon entering the gate, flashing a bright smile to the guarding ninja and telling stories of your wide travels across the Land of Fire. The ninja let you into the village with a kindhearted smile and a wish of success. You and Itachi quickly made your way to the nearest inn, where you promptly set down all of your items and made a plan for the day.
When Itachi asked you to accompany him on a mission to Konoha, you were hesitant to agree. In all the years you had known the man, he had never once expressed an interest in returning to Konoha. You were only vaguely aware of what had happened in the Leaf all those years ago, but you knew enough to know that Itachi was correct to stay far away. He’d never talked about it with you despite your status as his closest friend; Itachi was stuck with his walls up at all times and very rarely expressed any emotion. He was objective, honest, and emotionless - it’s what appealed to you the most, but it concerned you when he hid his emotions from you. You never knew when he was in a bad place, and that’s what confused you the most when he asked you out of the blue if you would join him on a mission to Konoha.
As soon as you had settled into the hotel, Itachi was heading out the door. He moved silently and didn’t even bother calling your name - the man had fully intended on leaving you in the hotel room and heading out to the streets on his own. Before you had even realized he’d left the room, he was already making his way down the pavement.
Itachi walked swiftly to his destination, using the distinct muscle memory that was ingrained into his mind years ago. He took a left turn, went straight for a while, turned again at the large flower pot, then circled around the fountains to reach his destination - it was the same route he took to the academy almost every single day of school when he was a child.
The dirt was still the same reddish brown that he remembers; it kicked up the exact same way as it used to and created the same dust clouds as Itachi walked. He was entranced by the ivy that had grown across the building he’d admired since he was a child - he’d stare at it every morning as he walked past it and always expressed how much he wanted to live there when he was older. At the age of 21, though, Itachi felt an unfortunate pain in his heart when he first saw that building now overgrown with ivy and grass. It looked abandoned, even.
The sound of a bell had taken Itachi out of his thoughts. He was standing at the corner right across from the Konohagakure academy and his eyes scanned the crowd of children that were now pouring out of the building. He recognized a few kids as members of clans based on their familiar outfits, but beyond that, Itachi felt saddened by the lack of recognition in his mind. Nothing in the village had changed, it seemed, yet Itachi felt as though he’d never been there before.
A kid with bright yellow hair dashed out of the crowd, an intelligible yell escaping his mouth. He appeared happy as he ran, and Itachi watched the two kids trail behind him. A girl with gorgeous pink hair followed the blonde boy with her arms crossed in clear disappointment. Behind her, trailing even slower, was a boy that Itachi had failed to recognize entirely. He looked angry at first, but it became easy to see that he was indifferent to what the boy was yelling about. Itachi furrowed his brow in confusion at the dark-haired boy before it had finally clicked.
The child, who must have been no older than 12, was Itachi’s younger brother - and Itachi was unable to recognize him.
There was nothing about Sasuke that was different or unusual for an Uchiha member; he wore the same white shorts and blue shirt that even Itachi wore as a kid. The familiar Uchiha crest was sewn into the back of the shirt, even. It had simply been too many years since Itachi had last seen his younger brother, and the memory of Sasuke’s face and mannerisms had slowly faded. Every time Itachi failed to recall a memory of his brother, he felt the same aching pain in his heart. Yet, he stayed away.
Sasuke had not noticed Itachi, thankfully, because Itachi had taken a few steps forward in a risky attempt to get a better view of him and almost drew attention to himself. In a moment of desperation, Itachi had activated his Sharingan to solidify the memory in his mind. He had forgotten everything else about Sasuke - he was not going to forget him again, he was determined. Unfortunately, the glow of the Sharingan was far too eye-catching.
Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke Uchiha could have sworn that he saw the familiar red glow of the Sharingan eyes. He’d seen a tall figure in the shadow of a building across the street as he slowly trailed after Naruto and dreaded the next two hours of training. The figure was out of his mind almost as soon as he’d looked away, but the familiar glowing red he saw out of the corner of his eye was enough for his heart to drop to his stomach. He turned his head instantly to get a better view, but the figure had disappeared entirely by the time he realized what he was looking at. Sasuke muttered to himself and returned his attention back to his teammates, who were now significantly ahead of him. The thought of his older brother lingered in the back of his mind.
When Itachi returned to the hotel room, you were about to release a wave of anguish on him. You had a speech written and rehearsed for the man - it was a powerful proclamation of how you will never be disrespected like this again, how it was extremely inappropriate and immature of Itachi to invite you here and then immediately abandon you. Before you could even open your mouth, though, you stopped in your tracks once you realized Itachi was standing in front of you with tears silently streaming down his face.
“I didn’t recognize him,” he said at a whisper, voice clearly shaking.
“Who?” you asked as you walked toward Itachi, arms held out to him.
“Sasuke.”
Your expression softened instantly upon hearing that name - though you never knew much about the relationship Itachi had with Sasuke, you knew that they were family. Despite everything that happened in the Uchiha clan, it was understood that Itachi cared for Sasuke far more than you’d ever know. When Itachi spoke those words, it stirred a wave of emotion inside of you that could not stop you from pulling him into a hug.
Itachi collapsed into you and sniffled as he attempted to take a deep breath and prevent his tears from falling. It failed, though, when a sob came out of his chest unintentionally. His crying became borderline uncontrollable as he fell into your shoulder. Your arms wrapped around his body as you pulled him closer; gently, you tried to reassure him.
“You’re okay,” you whispered, doing your best to fight back your own tears, “you’re okay.”
Itachi tried to speak, but another cry came out by accident. You shushed him and pressed your hand to his back and began rubbing circles on him in an attempt to soothe him. After another minute of his cries, you carefully led him across the room to sit on the bed. He followed without any issue and sat down next to you, but didn’t dare show his face to you. When he pushed himself away from your shoulder moments later, you looked away from his face. Itachi was a man who was obsessed with his image - he’s eternally poised and always holds himself to the highest degree of decorum; being seen in a state like this is something that he’d be embarrassed of for the rest of his life, so you consciously did your best to avert your gaze.
“I thought that seeing Sasuke after all this time would reassure me, but it’s done the opposite,” his voice faltered as he sat up, still clearly distraught. “I could tell, even in that short moment, that… That I destroyed all potential for him to succeed.” He lowered his head and rested it on his palms, pressing one to his eye in an attempt to clear the oncoming headache after his tears had slowed down.
“You cannot predict the future,” you said, wrapping your arm around his shoulder, “you have no idea what Sasuke will do. I’m sure he’s amazing.”
“He would have surpassed me by now if I hadn’t done what I did,” Itachi whispered, “I destroyed his potential. I created his pain and I solidified his life of grief and isolation.”
“You were a kid,” you hugged him tighter, “you had no choice.”
Itachi shook his head. “What I did was beyond horrible.”
“Yes,” you agreed, “but that does not mean that you are horrible.”
Itachi crumbled once more, leaning further into your touch.
The tears continued falling silently until the sun had began to set. The sky had turned a gorgeous pink color and reflected beautifully on the lake in front of the inn - when you realized how late it had become, you peeled away from your sleeping partner to get dinner for the both of you. He had eventually cried himself to sleep, you assumed, and was now resting. You wrote a note for him just in case he woke up during the time you were gone. You threw on a jacket and went to the front desk to ask where the best takeout food was.
You kicked the red dirt as you walked, slowly chasing the same pebble that you’d accidentally brushed forward. It became a game to you, to see just how far you could take that single pebble. It made it only a few more kicks before you’d underestimated your strength and sent it flying off your charted path. You turned your attention toward your surroundings and found yourself peoplewatching as you walked.
There was a kid, maybe 13 at most, who was being screamed at by a girl of roughly the same age with the highest ponytail you’d ever seen. What she was saying was mostly incomprehensible to you, but it was clear that the boy did not seem to care. In fact, there was another boy right next to him feasting on a bag of chips while watching the entire ordeal.
After you’d turned the corner, your destination came into view. There was a group of kids across the street with a few ninja watching over them, the adults having their own conversations while the kids were busy trying to show off the different jutsu they’d allegedly mastered. A boy with an adorably small dog was boasting about his seemingly excellent kunai-throwing accuracy while a different boy in an alarmingly green outfit was proclaiming his dedication to being a ninja. Seeing the kids just be kids sparked a warmth in your heart, a tender feeling that everything just might be fine.
You entered the ramen shop with intentions to get a light dinner. However, when you sat down and looked at the row of people next to you, it was obvious that the proportions in this restaurant were huge. You ordered your food and stared at the posters while you waited. You’d also decided to passively eavesdrop on the group next to you.
“You’re being a total loser,” an unfamiliar voice said. From what you could tell, there were three kids and a ninja - you could only assume that they were a team.
“What?” another one playfully groaned, “I just wanna see whose quicker at eating a bowl of ramen!” The boy smacked his chopsticks on the table, signaling to the chef to make another bowl.
“Did you ask me if I’d buy you enough ramen for that, Naruto?” The ninja at the opposite end of the table asked, not even bothering to look up from the book he was reading, which had a large “18+” sticker on the back of it. It made you cringe just a little to see a man reading that in public.
The blonde boy, who you assumed was Naruto, smiled sheepishly and shook his head. “What’s a little more ramen, huh?” he asked. He then turned to the boy he was taunting previously. “What, Sasuke, you scared?”
Instantly, your head turned to the boy. The lighting in the shop wasn’t amazing, so you couldn’t exactly see his face, but you could tell just by looking at him that he was an Uchiha; the crest on the back of his shirt gave it away completely, but even just looking at his face was enough. The resemblance to Itachi was undoubtful. This was Sasuke Uchiha, and you were somehow lucky enough to run into him.
“Would you QUIT IT?!” A hand smacked Naruto’s face quickly, causing him to scream in pain. “Sakura!” Naruto whined, putting his head down on the table. Sakura huffed and returned to her ramen while Sasuke smirked in satisfaction.
Your own bowl of ramen was placed in front of you and you began to eat. You quickly discovered it was far too hot, though, so you needed to pass the time until it cooled off.
“Excuse me,” you smiled at the group next to you, “but I’m a tourist from the Land of Water and I was hoping you’d be able to tell me about Konohagakure. You’re ninja, correct?”
You didn’t intend on spending the next hour talking to the group, but you did - The team’s leader had introduced himself as Kakashi Hatake, who you’d most certainly heard of because of his use of the Sharingan eye. Though you were a more peaceful participant of the Akatsuki group, you were still knowledgeable on the organization’s biggest enemies. Kakashi was certainly one of them, mostly because of his amazing abilities as a ninja.
Naruto Uzumaki was the one to do most of the talking. It was very easy to see that he was someone who was constantly bouncing off the walls with excitement over the prospect of being a ninja. You’d learned all about his academy life within just a few minutes and, with one of the cutest smiles you’d ever seen, told you that he’d invite you personally to be in the front row of his inauguration as the next Hokage. With how dedicated he seemed, a part of you truly believed in his ability.
Sakura Haruno was next to tell you about both herself and Konoha, though she mostly told you about the different herbalist and medicinal specialists throughout the village. She told you that she wanted to become a medical ninja and wanted to do everything she could to help those in need - seeing such a bright and kind young girl filled your heart with a warmth like no other and in that moment, you felt a true hope for the future world.
“What about you?” You’d asked, turning to Sasuke Uchiha. You only started the conversation with Team Seven simply to talk to Sasuke, and yet he was the one who spoke the least. He appeared to have no interest in talking to you, though, as he only answered with a short sentence.
“I’m going to be the best ninja in the world,” he said sternly. He’d been picking slowly at his ramen that was nearing empty and when he spoke, he stabbed the noodles with precision.
“You’ve got to be pretty amazing to do that, y’know. Would you say you’re pretty good?” You inquired.
“Sasuke’s the top of his class!” Sakura chimed in, leaning over the table to look at him. She grinned at Sasuke, who appeared entirely indifferent to her presence, and she giggled.
“Really?” You smiled. Sakura nodded enthusiastically. “He’s the best! He’s totally mastered his Fireball Jutsu and he’s even mastered the Chidori!”
Though you had no idea what the Chidori was, you could sense that it was an impressive move when Kakashi nodded in confirmation. Sasuke didn’t respond to you nor Sakura’s compliments - instead, he continued picking at his food.
“Well, I’m sure you’ve got tons of people that are proud of you,” you smiled at him. In a low voice, you continued. “I know your family is proud of you, at least.”
Sasuke noticeably tensed up. “You know nothing of my family.”
You shook your head. “Not much, no, but you’re clearly a talented boy. It’s hard to miss that.”
An hour later, you returned to your hotel room with a box of ramen for Itachi. He remained laying in the same spot you’d left him, though this time he was wide awake. At first, you thought he was maybe dead because of his stillness - instead, though, he was staring at the ceiling simply because he didn’t want to get up.
“I brought you food,” you said.
He sat up slowly and pushed the hair out of his face. Itachi took the bag from you and began eating what you brought him. He didn’t say thank you, but you could see his appreciation despite the silence and averted gaze. He’d voice his thoughts many days later once the two of you returned home, but you knew it before then anyway.
“I… I saw Sasuke,” you said after a few minutes. His hand went still, pausing in the middle of lifting some noodles out of the bowl with chopsticks. He looked up at you and met your eyes for the first time that night. He looked exhausted, and it filled you with a feeling of sorrow just at the sight of his tired eyes.
“He’s amazing, Itachi,” you whispered with a smile, “he’s such a bright young boy. I talked to him and his teammates.”
Itachi nodded before returning to his food.
He cleared his throat. “Could you tell me about him?” He asked just above a whisper, voice wavering. You nodded.
“I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up,” you laughed, “and he said he wanted to be the best ninja ever. It was adorable.”
Itachi’s lip twitched at your remark, which was usually an indication of a smile for him.
“His teammate said that he mastered both the Fireball Jutsu and the Chidori.”
“The Chidori?” Itachi inquired, eyebrows furrowing, “that’s a high-level jutsu.”
You smiled and nodded. “His teacher is none other than Kakashi Hatake, Itachi. He’s the best in his class, I’m told. He’s an amazing kid.”
Itachi smiled this time. “I always knew he’d be an amazing ninja,” he whispered, “but mastering the Chidori at his age is unheard of.”
You sat down on the bed next to Itachi, leaning your shoulder against his. “He’s got some pretty awesome teammates too,” you grinned, “there’s this kid Naruto. They’re like, best friends and enemies at the same time. Couldn’t stop bickering with each other, it was adorable. He says he’s going to be Hokage some day, and I think I believe him.”
Itachi hummed in response. You continued. “Kakashi also has the Sharingan, too, which means Sasuke has someone to teach him at least a little bit, you know.”
Itachi shrugged. “He can only teach Sasuke so much.”
You nodded. “I’m sure Sasuke’s already passed him in the Sharingan by now.”
The rest of the night was spent retelling every single moment of your dinner with Sasuke. You made sure to leave out nothing - you went as far as telling Itachi exactly what his brother had ordered at the ramen shop, even. Itachi deserved to know every single second of what happened, no matter how small. When you’d finished telling him and the two of you had gone silent, you turned off the light in the room and crawled into the bed next to Itachi.
“During the mission briefing,” Itachi whispered, “I was told to eliminate everyone.”
It went without saying what mission Itachi was referring to. You reached out for his hand in the dark.
“I couldn’t hurt Sasuke,” he said, and you could tell he was crying once more. “I knew I couldn’t, so I planned to tell him the most vile things to make him hate me.” You furrowed your brow, but didn’t speak up. He continued. “Just to give him a reason to live after everything that I’d done.”
Itachi was shaking now, and you couldn’t tell if it was because of his crying or if he was having another panic attack. You squeezed his hand in reassurance.
“I couldn’t say anything to him,” Itachi whispered. “It pains me to say that I have no memory of the last conversation I had with my brother.”
“You should talk to him,” you whispered to him. Itachi stayed silent. At one point, you thought he had fallen asleep.
“I’d like that,” he responded. “I would like that.”
A whole fourteen hours later, you and Itachi found yourselves outside the academy. He wanted to talk to Sasuke but expressed to you that he was unsure where to start. Even though Itachi had a delicate and practiced mask of indifference on at all hours of the day, it was obvious that he was incredibly nervous at the prospect of meeting his younger brother. Itachi’s mask was cracking and falling off, though, as his nerves increasingly got the better of him. His hands were twitching and fidgety as you walked together through the streets and he completely ignored everything you had to say, almost as if he was lost in thought entirely. It was normal for Itachi to ignore you, but never this much - if he truly didn’t want to listen to you, he’d have gotten far away by now.
“Itachi,” you whispered, gently elbowing the man, “look.”
From where the two of you stood in the shadows of a nearby building, it was difficult to see the oncoming flood of children that were released from school at the precise time of 2o’clock. However, the striking appearance of Naruto in the crowd was enough to draw your attention. His bright yellow hair and rowdy attitude drew your eyes in, which lead you to the Sasuke and Sakura that were trailing behind him with annoyed faces.
You looked to Itachi, who appeared as indifferent as ever, and did your best to scan his face for any indication of what he was thinking. He seemed completely frozen.
“They have training after school most days,” you whispered to him, recalling your memory of the shared dinner and remembering how Naruto told you all about how hard he trains.
His bright smile was contagious. “I train pretty much every day, you know!” He beamed at you, “every single day after school!” Naruto giggled. “Well, except Mondays and Wednesdays…”
“It might be best for us to wait until after training.” Itachi nodded at your comment, but didn’t respond. You watched Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto walk down the path until they had become specks along the horizon. Then, the two of you were on your way.
“Wait,” Itachi grabbed your shoulder as you turned to walk back to the hotel. You stopped in your tracks and turned to him with a look of bewilderment.
“I want to watch them train,” he proposed, “to see if I… truly did destroy his chances.”
Together, you walked to the training grounds where Sasuke and his teammates had gone to. The walk was quiet but comfortable, though Itachi’s nerves were still present. You tried to reassure him during your walk, but it proved to be useless once it was clear that Itachi was not looking for your advice.
“There is nothing you can say that will subdue my unease,” Itachi muttered, “it’s best to leave it alone right now.”
When you finally arrived at the training grounds, Sasuke and his teammates were sitting in the grass together.
“Maaaaan!” Naruto groaned, leaning back into the grass, “Kakashi-sensei is so lame, making us wait here all day for him!”
“You’re lame, loser,” Sasuke mumbled, using a stick to mindlessly drag along the grass in boredom. Naruto huffed in response at the childish insult, but didn’t respond.
The three chattered about school for almost twenty minutes until their sensei had finally arrived to the training grounds.
“Sorry guys, a black cat crossed my path-”
“So you had to go the long way,” the three children chimed in, a sure sign that Kakasshi’s excuse was long worn out. He smiled sheepishly and shoved his book into a pocket, making sure to bookmark the page first. Despite the long wait, Sakura had a soft smile on her face and Naruto was giggling at the absurdity.
“Now then, should we get started?” Kakashi asked, which made all three students rise to their feet and await instruction.
The training session was focused on building team trust - the copy ninja had his students working together to achieve a goal, however the major handicap was Naruto needing to listen to his teammates and Sasuke needing to cooperate with Naruto. There was plenty of fighting, but they eventually reached their goal. Sasuke got to practice a few of his jutsu during the training session as well, which caused Itachi to let out a chuckle of satisfaction at the sight of his younger brother being a talented ninja.
“He’s acquired quite the set of skills,” Itachi commented under his breath, “it’s impressive.”
You smiled. “I told you,” you said, “he’s a gifted kid.” Itachi, for what seemed like the first time in his life, smiled. It was small and soft, but it was definitely there - his lip curled upward and twitched a little at the unfamiliarity of the muscle being used, but it was certainly recognizable as a smile. It filled you with a feeling of felicity.
When training was finally over, you and Itachi trailed Sasuke back to where he was living. Upon first glance, you thought Sasuke had been living in the Uchiha property alone all this time. He entered through the main gates, but instantly turned right and walked down a small path that lead to a small shed in the back of the property. As you slowly trailed the boy, you peered into the windows of the buildings surrounding and found that they were either boarded up or riddled with crime-scene tape. As you walked past a window, you were met with what appeared to be a black reflection. However, you quickly recognized it instead as a swarm of flies covering the panes. You shuddered and directed your attention elsewhere.
Itachi was noticeably tense, presumably reliving that one night all over again, and he remained completely silent as the two of you walked. Sasuke was just barely in the distance, but he was close enough to just barely be seen. The growing darkness assisted in hiding your figures from Sasuke, so you grew less concerned with staying hidden.
Once Sasuke had disappeared inside his shed, you and Itachi stepped behind a building to quietly discuss the plan you had come up with that morning.
“Okay,” you smiled at him reassuringly, “you’re just going to go up there, knock on the door, and talk to him.”
Itachi nodded, remaining quiet.
“And if he gets violent or starts acting like he’s going to do something irrational, you get out of there immediately, right?” You nudged him to make sure he was paying attention.
“Yes,” Itachi spoke, suddenly aware of how dry his mouth was.
You watched the man walk across the gravel and knock gently on the door before taking a step back. Almost thirty seconds later, the door opened and you watched the look of pure confusion on Sasuke’s face change into horror the moment Itachi opened his mouth.
“It’s you,” Sasuke spat, “I hoped that you’d be dead by now.”
Itachi was about to speak, but Sasuke was quick to cut him off.
“Nevermind that, I’ll be the one to do it then!” Sasuke yelled, dashing toward Itachi with a spark of lightning in his palm. Itachi was far too quick, though, and easily dodged the attack - Sasuke went flying past him and almost into the garden wall.
“I came here to talk,” Itachi said, watching Sasuke stumble back to his feet. “I do not wish to fight you.”
“Really?!” Sasuke spat, “you told me you only let me live so I could be the one to kill you!” He shifted positions and pulled out a kunai. “You held me at knifepoint, Itachi, and said I was too pathetic to kill!”
He dashed toward your partner again, and Itachi reached a hand out to stop Sasuke. The force of his brothers actions were enough to send Sasuke flying into Itachi’s body before he quickly jumped back.
“You’re the pathetic one, Itachi,” he raged, “you’re too much of a coward to even fight me!”
Itachi nodded. “You’re right, Sasuke.”
His breath caught in his throat upon hearing the words, but his position did not falter. “Are you really that craven?” he taunted, beckoning Itachi forward with the kunai.
“I wanted to apologize,” Itachi stated. Sasuke scoffed.
“For killing our clan?” Sasuke tightened his grip on the blade. “You’re long past forgiveness for that, brother.”
“No,” Itachi stepped forward, “for accepting the mission.”
Sasuke’s brow furrowed. “What the hell do you mean?” he asked. He held his grip.
“Our clan was planning a coup,” Itachi explained, “and intended to overthrow the Hokage. I was given direct orders to eliminate all the participants.”
Sasuke scoffed. “However,” he muttered, “I could not bring myself to eliminate you.”
“I was too pathetic to kill, right?” Sasuke narrowed his eyes. “I was too pitiful. Say it, Itachi!”
Sasuke took a few steps toward Itachi and pressed the blade to his older brother’s neck, indenting the skin just enough for it to be truly threatening. He locked eyes with his opponent. “I want to hear you say it.”
“You were too precious, Sasuke,” Itachi said, which caused Sasuke to stumble backward in surprise. “I loved you too much to hurt you, and every day I regret what I did.”
Sasuke shook his head. From where you were standing and watching everything going down, it seemed as though tears were beginning to form in his eyes. You found yourself thinking about all the years Sasuke spent alone because of Itachi, and your empathy only grew stronger for the boy.
“You told me I was pathetic,” Sasuke said, perplexed. His brother nodded slowly.
“I had to give you a reason to live after what I had done.”
Sasuke shook his head again, refusing to believe his brother. “I have spent my whole life waiting for the day that I could kill you,” he spat, “and you’re here telling me it was all for nothing?!”
“I’d be honored if you were the one to kill me,” Itachi whispered.
“Every day, my dear brother, I regret what I did. There is not a moment that goes by where I am not in an unwavering state of lament because of my actions. I left you alive because I could not bring myself to hurt you. I love you more than anything, Sasuke, and it’s the reason that I stand before you today.”
Sasuke growled, seemingly unaffected by the words Itachi just spoke. “You’re a monster,” he hissed, “you deserve to spend every second of your life in despair for what you did!”
A kunai was thrown swiftly from Sasuke, which struck the door where Itachi was standing. With a quick lean to the left, the kunai went right past him and into the wooden frame. Sasuke let out a groan of frustration.
“I hate you,” he condemned, “and I want nothing to do with you!”
“I do not need you to love me, dear Sasuke,” Itachi expressed, “I just need you to know the truth.”
Itachi revealed a scroll beneath his cloak. It was something that you’d never seen before, which caused you to wonder exactly how long Itachi had been planning this trip to see Sasuke. He set the scroll on the ground and rolled it across the pavement.
“This scroll contains the mission briefings and all the paperwork associated with it. You will see Danzo’s signature on every single one of those papers, along with exactly what I was ordered to do.”
Sasuke peered down at the scroll and, after a moment of consideration, picked it up. His hands traced the words written on the seal. Itachi produced another scroll, smaller this time.
“This scroll is a communication scroll.” Itachi rolled it across the ground. “This one is connected to another I have in my possession. Whatever you write on the scroll will appear on mine, and the same for my writing.”
Sasuke picked up the second scroll and opened it and found a large sheet of what appeared to be simple parchment. A seal was drawn across the top.
“I left you for so long because I believed you were not strong enough to understand the information contained in that scroll,” Itachi stated. “However, a dear friend of mine told me all about your talent. I’ve been told that you’re the best in your class and that you’ve mastered some impressive jutsu already, Sasuke.”
A shade of pink rose to Sasuke’s face. “So what?” He huffed.
“I am proud of you,” Itachi smiled. “You’ve turned into a fine young man, and I couldn’t be any more delighted to hear how amazing you’ve become.”
Itachi’s eyes glanced over to you, and he gave you a look before quickly signing a few hand formations and disappearing into a cloud of smoke.
“I truly wish to be your brother again, Sasuke,” Itachi had said just a second before disappearing, and Sasuke’s face formed a look of sorrow. A single tear had slid down his face after his brother had disappeared, and you waited until he went inside to move.
When you returned to the hotel, you found Itachi sitting on the bed and peering outside the window. You greeted him quietly, and he nodded his head at you in response.
“That went as well as it could have,” you stated. He nodded.
“I believe that, in due time, Sasuke will open that scroll and finally understand.”
You smiled at Itachi and sat down next to him, leaning your own head on his shoulder. “I think Sasuke is lucky to have you as a brother, minus the killing your family part.”
Itachi actually chuckled lightly at your remark despite the untoward joke.
“I can only hope that a day will come where Sasuke himself could think that, Y/N.”