Mikoto watched in horror as the car drove away and more cameras starting flashing and followed the trail of the car. It took until the car turned a corner and was out of sight for the cameras to stop flashing and for Sasuke's anger to not be heard by everyone anymore. Mikoto heard her phone buzz along with everybody else's. She hoped it wasn't another text from that number but instead it was a viral video. There was one that showed Sasuke's reaction to be arrested. Another with Mikoto running up to the man named Ibiki. The final one however was the most famous one. It started with Sasuke shouting, "Hey, if I die in prison, tell them I didn't die somebody's bitch!" The #freeSasuke had already started trending. Mikoto turned her phone off, she couldn't stand to see more. She looked up to see an ambulance pulled up. Shisui spoke softly that he'd ride to the hospital with Hana and would go home. Indra sighed.
"This party is pretty much over. Let's all head home."
"As if I'll be able to rest, not while knowing my son was just arrested." Fugaku spoke through his grit teeth.
Madara hummed, "I'm going to call Itachi and tell him what happened." He stepped away and dialed Itachi's number quickly.
Mikoto looked up at Fugaku, "What're we going to do? This is obviously Root's handiwork. My son is not a murderer." She whispered as to not let anyone but him hear. Although Obito did overhear, but thankfully it was only him. He made a sort of choking noise and Mikoto snapped her head towards him, "Are you calling my baby a killer?"
Obito shook his head, "No. But he is the reason Danzo even had to go to the hospital…had that not happened…"
Before Obito could trail off to suggest the worst, Madara walked up to Mikoto and Fugaku. "He's not picking up. Maybe he's asleep?"
"At this hour? Try Izumi." Fugaku furrowed his brows. They didn't want to think something happened to them. They possibly turned their phones off. But Itachi said he'd keep tabs on the party so it wouldn't make sense that he'd turn his phone off. Madara tried Izumi's cell phone about five times but to no avail. He called the house phone numerous times and nothing came up. Now was the time Fugaku started to worry. "Maybe we shouldn't expect the worst. You all head home, Mikoto and I will check on them." They left quickly and avoided paparazzi crowding and asking about how they felt about what just happened. Izuna and Maria had to calm down numerous people freaking out. Naruto was bordering hysteria and Sakura was star struck. She didn't even know what to say. Obito and Rin drove themselves home to make sure nothing was awry at home for them.
By the time the limo pulled up to Itachi's house, Mikoto ran outside and lifted her dress to run up to the door. She knocked loudly on the door, "Itachi! It's me, answer the door." But there was no answer. "Itachi! Itachi, open the door! Izumi, you there?" Fugaku walked up behind her. "I don't hear anything. I'm going to break open the door, move." Fugaku did as told and watched his wife lift a leg and open the door with ease. It was almost scary that she'd been so used to opening doors like that. She ran inside with the pretense that she'd see the two of them asleep on the couch or something but no one was there. Matter of fact, nobody was around. Fugaku began to check the pool and garage and Mikoto ran upstairs. She went inside the bedroom and gasped.
"What is it?" Fugaku came upstairs and looked into the bedroom beyond her. "…There must have been some sort of struggle."
"Oh my god – Did they take him? Or Izumi? Where are they?"
"All his cars and limos are still here. But his motorcycle is missing."
Mikoto looked up at Fugaku, "What? Maybe he and Izumi went out? But their phones aren't here, where did they go damn it!?"
Fugaku placed a delicate hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry. I put a tracker in his motorcycle in case he decided to finally go rogue and leave the city." Mikoto relaxed a little and waited as Fugaku pulled out his phone and searched for wherever Itachi was. His face morphed from ease to confusion, "This doesn't make any sense." Mikoto peered over to look at his phone, "The motorcycle is stagnant but in the road…and there are other cars moving on it."
Mikoto widened her eyes, "What? We have to go check if he's okay!" She wasted no time in returning downstairs. Fugaku huffed and followed down after her. Mikoto was growing angry at how slow the limo was going. They eventually reached the road where the motorcycle was supposed to be. Fugaku saw it in tatters underneath other cars, but no sign of Itachi. Mikoto stared off onto the other side of the road hopefully. She gasped and pointed. "There! Pull over!" The person driving pulled over and let them out. Mikoto ran up to the figure she saw laying in the bushes. She grimaced. Itachi was there with cuts and bruises all over his body. His clothes were torn and he looked like he could barely move. His previous bullet wound seemed to have opened by the slightest and poured out blood through his white shirt. "Itachi! It's me, your mother, what happened?"
Itachi groaned and sat up. His head rang loudly and he adjusted his eyesight to see his mother crouching down beside him and Fugaku standing above him. Then his eyes widened when he remembered what happened, "Izumi – mom, Izumi, they took her."
"What? Who did?" Fugaku grabbed Itachi's hand and helped him up.
"I don't know. They were in a black van though…and one of them…" Itachi looked down and located the brick rolled up in Izumi's shirt and snarled. He reached down and picked it up, taking the shirt and stuffing it in his pocket. He noticed the brick had a piece of notebook paper attached to it. Mikoto ripped it off before Itachi could strain his abdomen.
She read it aloud, "'And the game starts. You should've tried looking for us after you got shot. Who knows who else will be taken?' They're going to take someone else?"
Itachi balled his fist despite the cuts on them, "Not if I can help it."
The three of them went inside of the limo. Mikoto figured that they should check on everybody to make sure nothing happened in their homes either. She told the man to start driving to Shisui's place first and to make no stops even if there was a red light. Fugaku would handle the legal effects of it later. They weren't stopping for anything. Itachi felt his muscles strain, "I should've just went to that party with you. Then Izumi wouldn't have…" he stopped short and stared out the window.
Fugaku shook his head, "That probably wouldn't have been the best idea either."
Itachi rose a brow, "It looked like you all were having a good time?"
Mikoto scoffed bitterly, "We were at first. But then the FBI showed up and arrested your brother."
"What?" Itachi glanced between the two of them to see they weren't joking, "Sasuke? Arrested?" They nodded. "For?" Mikoto darkened her face.
"Check your phone."
Itachi took out his phone and saw his phone blowing up with notifications. Hundreds of videos were across the internet of Sasuke getting arrested and accused of killing Danzo Shimura. There were articles everywhere. Most of them following the #freeSasuke trend and a small bunch saying he deserved it. He checked Naruto's Instagram to see #freeSasuke everywhere. Including Karin's Instagram, Hinata's, Shikamaru's, Kiba's, even Sakura's. Itachi couldn't deny it was the truth now, there was so much media over it too.
"This doesn't make any sense. Danzo died a long time ago, why would they reopen the case now?"
Mikoto balled her fists and looked out the window, "Maybe we had this a long time coming. We noticed all the signs and yet we decided to not back track. There's no one to blame but ourselves. But Root, Foundation – whoever the hell is after us has another thing coming if they think they can just shoot my son and arrest the other."
"I get that your angry mom, but there's nothing we can do -"
"Of course there is. The trial for Sasuke is definitely happening."
Itachi scrunched his nose, which slightly hurt because of his wounds, "There's a trial when they've already convicted him?"
Fugaku scoffed, "Obviously we're pushing for a trial." Not that doing that would be possible for anyone other than the Uchiha. Fugaku has direct links with anyone in a position of power. In any case, arresting Sasuke without the grounds of having a warrant or anything of the sort is enough to have a trial in his favor. And there's no other lawyer in the country – or in the world that could be better for Sasuke than Itachi. Not only because they're brothers and Itachi knows how to work a courtroom, but because if they got a random lawyer, there would be no way for them to keep the Uchiha Secret under wraps what with Danzo's name popping up again out of no where. It was no mistake that Root was behind this and wanted to take the Uchiha down one and for all. And of course, none of them were having that.
"A trial. And who do you want to be his lawyer?"
"You, duh."
"Yeah, duh. While I'm in no hurry to see my little brother thrown in jail, won't they be a little suspect of me being his attorney?"
Mikoto shrugged, "Let them suspect us. It won't lead them to anything. To the masses, it'll just look like an older brother trying to protect his little brother. On another note, we all need to stay off the radar for now."
Fugaku widened his eyes and turned towards her, "You're not suggesting we go back in that van again?"
Mikoto gave him a sad smile, "I know you hated it. But we can't let the press nail us on this. If this is really what we think it is, then we need to take all the precautionary measures. In any case, we have to tell the others…that we have to lay low."
Itachi shook his head slightly, "They're going to ask why and that's not a question any of us are ready to answer."
Mikoto shook him off, "No worries. We're going to solve that before it happens. Fist, let's round the family up," she tapped on the window separating them from the driver. He rolled it down and she cleared her throat to speak, "Head to Shisui's place." The driver nodded and rolled the glass back up, changing courses to go to Shisui's mansion. It took a while because the traffic was hectic after the police, or actually, the FBI had showed up. Nobody could still fathom the fact that Sasuke was arrested by the FBI, nonetheless. For killing Danzo? Danzo has been dead for a long time, they barely tried to look for a killer because they believed there wasn't one. The doctors figured his life support had unplugged by falling out of its socket. And since the cameras didn't show anything, that's what they went with. Who was running Root to know Sasuke gave Danzo those injuries? Someone who could get him arrested for causing his death years later.
The public hadn't found out about the life support machine, but the FBI should at least know. So Sasuke being arrested is idiotic. Eventually they pulled up to Shisui's home. He'd told Obito over the phone that the doctors told him Hana's condition was stable and she was only passed out from the gas as of now. She'd wake up soon, but they urged him to return home and rest. Obviously he didn't want to do that, but he needed to take care of Shosuke. Pulling up to his home was shocking to say the least. His front yard was a mess, mess as in someone who wasn't him caused it. The grass had tire marks all over it. His front door was wide open and if you peered inside it would show that it was a mess in there too. Mikoto spared a glance at the two of them. Usually Mikoto would be the one to run out of the limo first and find out what happened immediately. But Itachi beat her to it, even if it pained him to move at the moment. He opened the gate, not having to try very hard as it was already slightly opened. His legs got numb from how fast he ran up to the front door and busted in.
"Shisui! Where are you? Hana?"
"Hana is in the hospital," a voice from behind Itachi answered and he turned to see his father.
"Why?"
"There was a fire at the party, she got caught in the crossfire. Literally. Where's Shisui?"
"That's what I wanna know." Around them was pretty mangled and it looked like there was an obvious break in. But it didn't make any sense, Shisui has perfect security, where are all his staff workers? Why was no one around? Mikoto came in shortly after and inspected the house. She was shocked when coming across a certain missing person.
"Shosuke isn't here." As if on cue they heard Shisui curse loudly and kick something down. That explains the mess inside of the house at least. They could hear him stomp downstairs and he looked like a mess. His hair was frazzled, his jacket was ripped off and his shirt untucked, his tie loosened and he was obviously frantic to find Shosuke. Implying Shosuke wasn't in the house.
"What're you all doing here?"
Mikoto approached him calmly, "Shisui, we need to go. We have to -"
"Don't talk to me like I'm a child. Why are you here?" Mikoto sighed and explained it all. Shisui morphed his face from anger to realization. He seemed more intrigued with the fact that Izumi was missing as well and he was worried that some bastard came to his house and stole his son. The tire marks would show someone busted in by breaking down the gate. Surprising that no passerby decided to call the police. He also couldn't find the babysitter Hana hired. "So you're telling me that Root stole my son?"
Fugaku didn't know how to answer but he did anyway, "We can't be sure."
"You can't be sure? How the hell can you not be sure!? Who else would even have the gall -"
"Shisui." Itachi stopped him. Shisui wanted to lash out and make a scene, but the look in Itachi's eyes stopped him. Shisui felt insensitive for a moment there. Itachi was actually around to be able to stop it but they still managed to take Izumi right from under his nose. He sighed and backed down. Mikoto explained that they all had to lay low for awhile and Shisui reluctantly agreed. After all, none of them wanted to return to that van.
.
It was troublesome.
To round everybody up that is. Obito had to leave Haru and Sora in the Namikaze's custody which took a lot of convincing on Rin's part. Rin was thoroughly confused about why they had to give away their children and hide in a van for the time being. As was everybody who didn't know about the Uchiha Secret. Madara couldn't entirely convince Thea to come and join the ride. Mikoto settled on the agreement to let her take care of Indra in a rented hotel under the Senju name. Izuna had Maria mystified at their sudden repositioning.
Eventually they were all there. Confused, worried, scared faces everywhere and Mikoto didn't know where to begin. Fugaku sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"We all know what occurred this evening. Around the same time, Izumi was kidnapped as was Shosuke." Gasps and fear was heard and seen, Fugaku quickly silenced them. "Mikoto and I have been talking and – "
"Fugaku. Let me." Mikoto spoke up. Fugaku gave her a look of concern and she returned it with a shaky smile. He stepped back as she continued for him. "I'm sure you all know that we've been keeping something from you ever since the Camp Retreat. To be clear, we have. The people who shot Itachi was – or is a covert government organization called Root. Root was run by Danzo Shimura."
She waited for their reactions to subside.
"They are also the same people who let the fire loose at the party and who took Shosuke and Izumi. Sasuke getting arrested most likely is tied to all this," she took a deep breath. "Years ago a lot was happening with the Uchiha name. Indra had issues with the business and funding. We weren't a Lone name as we were tied with the Senju. Back then all these family names were above us. Hyuuga, Namikaze, Inuzuka, Akimichi, Yamanaka, Nara, and Aburame, you name it."
Maria widened her eyes, "They were above us? That's hard to imagine."
"It was…a rough time." Fugaku reasoned.
Mikoto nodded and continued, "This was around the time Fugaku and I got married, but Indra was secretly looking for a way to separate from the Senju to build a bigger name, not one only known in business. This proved to be difficult however. The only way would be to merge with a stronger foundation. And that's exactly where the Foundation came in."
"Foundation, I thought it was Root?" Rin asked quietly.
"Yes…but this is where we started. The Foundation had a reputation for making deals and keeping on them so Indra didn't see it as much of a problem. He signed some contracts and we were in. We started building a name – a brand for ourselves. Uchiha soon became a household name."
Fugaku grimaced, "And that's when there were complications. You see, to keep our end of the deal there were payments. Not something too difficult, until it got to be too much and Indra decided to cut ties with them. That was also a mistake. But nothing happened until a few years later. When Sasuke was a teenager. We didn't think Foundation would show up again but they did. With a new name – Root."
Obito decided to pipe in, "Things became hectic after that. Their leader being Danzo, he wanted us to make good on our promise. Our entire name was on the line. Danzo began threatening us, threatening to exploit us. Foundation is with the government and if we were known to work with organizations based on spying we'd lose a lot of credibility. With that knowledge we had to do whatever it took to keep them at bay."
Izuna sighed, "It became an all out war. Any one who got involved had to be kept quiet or it'd be a whole other issue. Which is exactly why Minato and Kushina were away for so long. We had to be sure. Sasuke and Itachi weren't supposed to get involved as they were fairly young at the time but Root made them get involved. We didn't have much firepower on our end and Indra called in people like the yakuza or anyone who was willing."
Itachi finally decided to add to the story, "This just made things worse. Adding to the story for Danzo to write about. When Danzo threatened to write about us more right to Sasuke's face, Sasuke lashed out. That got Danzo out in the hospital. We took the opportunity to fight them off while they didn't have a leader and dispose of any and all proof of the Uchiha Secret. It was only a few days after that Danzo was found dead in his hospital room."
Fugaku crossed his arms, "It took years for us to settle everything down and pay debts and bring the Uchiha name to what it is now. And now…it looks like Root wants their debt to be paid."
The van was silent for a long time. Maria and Run with pensive faces. Shisui was reluctant to have to repeat the story to Hana later, as was Madara. Mikoto felt uneasy with the silence.
"Listen, we're still the same people – We just have a past we aren't proud of. We did what we had to for our family, you all can understand that right?" Still silent. She flinched, "Look, we need your help. Izumi and Shosuke are gone, Hana is in the hospital and my baby is in jail!" Her voice cracked at that last bit. "We – I need all the help I can get with this. Please." They stayed silent. "Please."
Rin spoke up first, "I'm still not sure how to feel about all this. But I'm not going to let you all go through this alone." Mikoto calmed down a little and glanced at Maria.
"S-same here, don't worry about me. Someone needs to get that little shit out of jail." They sighed in relief.
.
Izumi woke with a start. She felt groggy and restless and her body felt numb. She tried to recall what happened only to feel her eyes sting with tears she didn't know she was holding in. Her heartbeat picked up and she tried to examine her surroundings. It was dark – too dark for her liking. Looking down she saw she was shirtless and only in her bra and pants. She was on a bed of some sort and it was quiet. She jumped and went stiff when she door freaked open to re veal some light and a figure walked in. She tested the waters, "Hello?" her voice was much more frightened than she wanted it to be. "I-Itachi? Is that you?" She knew it wasn't but she really wanted it to be him.
That's when the light flickered on and she flinched at the suddenness of it. It gave her a clear view of what was around her. It was just a small bed in an empty beige room. Not much to see other than a small fan on the ceiling that was producing the light for her. The person was, in fact, not Itachi. She doesn't know who they were.
But the person smiled at her. He had a plain face with medium length hair that was colored light blue. Izumi was stunned silent. "Hi, my name is Shin, it's nice to finally meet you Izumi. Noriko told me you were pretty but she didn't say how much." He took a few steps closer, making Izumi scoot back against the bed frame. "No need to be afraid, I won't hurt you unless I'm told to." Izumi gulped and realized her state of undress and used the blanket to cover her front. Her face was red from embarrassment, she only wanted Itachi to see her like this.
"W-what do you want from me, why am I here? Where's Itachi?"
He chuckled, "So many questions. I don't want anything from you. It's what our organization will get by having you here. And your boyfriend is probably doubled over in pain on the side of a street where he belongs."
Izumi gasped, "What? Why would he be – "
"Look, I don't have all the answers. I just know I'm supposed to make sure you don't try anything funny. I need for you to come with me." When Izumi didn't move he made an attempt to pull her out of the bed, Izumi struggled against his grip on impulse. It made him frustrated and push her down against the bed with her hands behind her back. "Sorry, I don't want to treat you like a prisoner or anything."
"Isn't that what I am?"
Shin smiled, "You're doing a good job at trying to seem like you aren't afraid." He lifted her off the bed and took her out of the room. From this view Izumi could see they were in an apartment building of some sort. It was dark outside still so she must not have been out for that long. And it was raining. She doesn't know where he was taking her but there were a lot of people around. In head to toe black and masks that featured some type of animal on them.
Izumi felt her breath hitch when she noticed their eyes through their masks trailing her body. She closed her eyes and pretended not to see.
Itachi, where are you?
.
A few days went by without a hitch. Well that would be an understatement. Too much happened actually. It was difficult to avoid the press for so ling before Sasuke's trial. Itachi made as many connections as he could to locate anybody that could help win this trial. He wasn't sure how they could make it seem as though Sasuke didn't hurt Danzo without a good reason without revealing the Uchiha Secret. The entire family was restless and anxious. They day of the trial came and the entire family was there to the public's surprise.
It was rowdy and hard to get through and inside but they made it. Itachi was told that his client would be waiting for him where they could wait for the trial to begin. It pained him to have to refer to his brother as clientele right now but there was nothing he could do. They made their way through the halls and there was a lot of commotion where they assumed Sasuke was. Maria spotted him first. It was really a sight to behold.
Sasuke was in an orange jumpsuit, unbuttoned and showing a white shirt underneath. He had his hands cuffed in front of him and numerous FBI agents surrounding him. With notice you could see they all had their Tasers in their hands indicating a lot actually. Sasuke had a deep scowl on his face and was glaring holes into the FBI head, Ibiki. The man looked unfazed from this though, which was rare. An Uchiha glare is a scary sight to behold. Itachi went up to them and didn't notice he was glaring as well until Ibiki spoke.
"You must be the brother. Or his lawyer I'm guessing." Ibiki turned back to the guards, "Alright hand him over." One of the agents walked back with the Uchiha and kept Sasuke cuffed just in case. In any normal circumstance they would probably have a regular guard do it, but Itachi is sure that Sasuke proved to be a handful.
The family went inside the waiting room while the guard waited outside. Sasuke was still cuffed of course. He had no reaction when Mikoto crushed him in a hug and tears pooled in her eyes. He did seem less tense from it though.
"So, where do we begin?" Fugaku looked over at Itachi who was making himself comfortable at a large desk in the room.
"Here is the thing. This is probably going to be a pretty one-sided trial. Not in our favor I'll have you know. The person we're going up against has a history of getting a client to out themselves before a recess even happens. Typically, it's a Client that already has a short temper." They all sighed and looked at Sasuke, who still hadn't said anything.
"But it's fine right? You have some way to counter that." Izuna seemed to be trying to tell himself that.
Itachi shrugged, "Let's say that I do." He looked over at Sasuke who hadn't said anything since they reunited. Mikoto looked up at him with a face of concern before she pat his shoulder. Sasuke looked towards her with a grimace.
"Honey…you haven't said anything, are you – "
"Don't actually ask me if I'm okay when you see me in goddamn handcuffs." Mikoto faltered and would have apologized but Fugaku interrupted her before she could.
"Watch your tone, your mother has been worried about you this whole time."
Sasuke furrowed his brows and rolled his eyes, "Oh, what do you want me to do? Tell her everything is fine and I'm happy to see her? Get real."
Fugaku clenched his teeth. "I understand this is a difficult situation for you but don't you dare think I'll let you speak to me like that."
Sasuke seemed off and his temper was shorter than usual. "You – you understand? What the fuck do you understand? You didn't get arrested by the FBI and have it shared all across the fucking world! Spare me your crap! I thought you'd "understand" I don't want bullshit right now!"
"Sasuke! I don't need you to lose your temper every second right now, didn't you hear what Itachi just said? The guy we're up against uses that to his advantage. Keep your cool."
Sasuke scoffed, "I can't keep my cool, the more I'm stuck in handcuffs and the longer I look like this I just want to explode." Fugaku was about to go off again but Itachi held up a hand, shocking Fugaku. Itachi could barely notice how Sasuke was shaking, either with anger or fear. Probably both.
"Hey, would you all mind stepping out for a second? I need a small, talk with my Otouto." Naturally they would've disagreed. But Itachi rarely called Sasuke that anymore, it shocked Sasuke himself as well. They left reluctantly, especially Mikoto who looked remorseful. Once they left and Maria closed the door behind them, Itachi sighed and looked back over at Sasuke. Who had his head hung low and was still shaking. Itachi didn't like seeing anyone in his family in such a state, especially not Sasuke who hated vulnerability.
"So…how's life?"
"Fuck off."
That was to be expected. "Why are you acting like a douche? More than usual. Dad's right, mom worried about you like mad. She didn't sleep or eat, or even think really. It was hard to watch. You should have more sympathy."
"Maybe you all should have more sympathy. You didn't get locked up for a crime you didn't commit. Don't come to me saying I should play nice or whatever when I didn't do anything wrong."
Itachi walked towards Sasuke, "I didn't say you did anything wrong. I just – hey, if you don't look at me when I'm talking to you I won't know if you're listening." Sasuke slowly looked up, his eyes were glassy and he was still shaking. Itachi felt a pull at his heart.
"Otouto…" he started, "A lot happened. Shosuke and Izumi are missing, or they were kidnapped." Sasuke widened his eyes, "So yeah, we're all hurting pretty bad and have a bone to pick. My number one priority is getting you out of here and then worry about Izumi, because trust me I'm worried. I literally can't express how much I want to get you out of here and have you back. So please, bear with me. Everyone wants you back home, including Sakura." Itachi wasn't shocked when a tear snuck it's way down Sasuke's cheek. He hiccupped and bowed his head again. Itachi, being the big brother he was, pulled him in for a hug and let him cry on his shoulder.
It took a bit for him to calm down, but when he did Itachi helped wipe his tears. Sasuke swallowed, "S-sorry I just don't – "
"I know. First things first we get you out of here. Don't forget to apologize to mom too by the way."
Sasuke pouted a little but nodded, "Hey, are my eyes red?" Itachi snorted and let the family back in.
They walked back in slowly, Fugaku glaring a little at Sasuke and Mikoto looking distraught. Itachi could hear Sasuke whisper an apology to Mikoto and Fugaku. Once everyone was settled, Itachi rubbed his hands together.
"So here's the deal. Typically with cases like this, they go into the perpetrators background. What people think of him, their ways of interaction. The first half of this trial will mainly be just that. They'll most likely start of with you Sasuke so be prepared. Most of us excluding me will testify. I did think to bring in a few people but don't worry too much about that. Just…make sure to answer cautiously. And please, don't do anything stupid."
.
Mark thought this was so surreal. He wasn't in jail anymore. But he didn't know where he was currently. Noriko only told him she needed him for a small project. He didn't recognize the place, it was dark and there were computers everywhere in this room. That s when the door opened and the person he was introduced to earlier appeared. Shin if he remembered correctly. The man had someone next to him and when the light bounced off their face his felt his heart race quicken. He didn't think he'd see her so early.
She didn't have a shirt, so he could see her figure clearly. She looked good despite it all. When she noticed him her breath hitched and he couldn't help but smirk. Even though she's been sheltered by Itachi all this time and pampered by the Uchiha, it really shows something that he still instills fear in her after all this time. Shin handcuffed her to a chair and made her sit down. "I apologize, Noriko will be here soon. You two can…get reacquainted." He left the room as quickly as he had entered it.
It was silent for a while. Very silent. Other than the noise from the computers and their breathing they didn't hear anything. Mark sighed and leaned on a wall. Izumi twitched and glanced up quickly before looking back down. "You look good." She didn't respond. "I guess the Uchiha have been treating you well."
"…Itachi's coming so don't try anything." Mark scoffed. Itachi, the last time he saw him he kicked his ass so he didn't doubt Itachi would eventually come. But it was unlikely he'd find where they were. Root was very secretive after all. He didn't care if it was a bunch of Uchiha looking, it would be near impossible to find this place. Mark was curious on what would happen if they were found though. Would Itachi send him back to jail? Probably, considering he doesn't trust him one bit. He's weirdly possessive of Izumi as well. He's seen as a threat to her psyche to him, which s smart all things considered.
"He's much too busy with the arrest of Sasuke and his trial." Izumi was shocked obviously.
"You're…lying."
"Whatever." Mark smirked. "You know, with us alone and you handcuffed…Itachi can't save you this time either. I could do whatever I wanted to do."
"S-stay away from me. You'll be sorry."
"Maybe, but I'm more of an in the moment kind of guy so who cares what Itachi would do?"
She shook her head, "I don't mean Itachi, I'm not the same person, I won't let you touch me."
Mark chuckled and stepped closer, "Oh really? How have you changed?" He leaned down to be at eye level with her. Izumi gulped and furrowed her brows. Her heart race quickened and she was breathing harder. She was uncomfortable and scared but she put up a façade. A weak one but it was cute for him to watch her squirm.
"Stronger. I'm not afraid of you." He begged to differ. He moved a strand of hair out of her face and watched as she flinched. It was too easy for him.
"I'd love to test that." Izumi squeezed her eyes shut, but Mark didn't do anything. "While I am an in the moment kind of guy, I don't want to get my ass beat by Itachi again so I'll pass." Mark moved away and watched as Izumi caught her breath and blinked rapidly. He was amused and she could tell. It only made her angry.
The door opened again and Noriko walked through. She greeted Mark and smiled at Izumi. She was…beautiful to say the least. Izumi didn't know who she was, she didn't k who most people were here other than Mark. And the unfamiliar faces are making her more uneasy than ever. He remind was racing with thoughts. Itachi is at a trial? Sasuke is in jail? It's just too much for her to keep up.
Noriko cleared her throat. "Hi Izumi. I'm Noriko, it's nice to officially meet you. You're Itachi's girlfriend, yes?" When she didn't answer, Noriko chuckled. "Still nervous I'm guessing. That's to be expected, you are in a foreign area after all. Anyway I don't need much from you. Just a few pictures. Give me your best scared look, kay?" Izumi didn't move and Noriko smiled. "Yes, that's perfect. Kakashi!"
A man with gray hair and a black mask on rushed in with a phone in his hand. "Take some pictures of our dear and send them directly to Itachi. Let him be off his game for the trial." Izumi widened her eyes.
"No, don't do that, you'll throw him off!"
"That's the point my dear." The man Kakashi took photos and sent them. Izumi hung her head in defeat. She heard Noriko talk about how they needed to do that every few hours and to escort Mark to a room. Once they were all gone and she was alone, a tear rolled down her face.
.
"Itachi – what the hell!?" Rin nearly yelled when his phone smashed against the wall next to her head right as they were about to make their way to the courtroom. All eyes turned to him.
"…Sorry, my hand slipped."
"Your hand slipped!?" Shisui picked his phone up and looked at the screen. He went silent when he saw what was on the screen, "Itachi -" Itachi snatched the phone and went over to the window, opening it and tossing his phone out. The screeched.
"I don't need them bothering me while we're out there, let's go."
The trial was very private. No cameras or people other than the family and the jury. It was scary to see it actually happening. Itachi doesn't know how his dad was able to get a private trial, but they could do almost anything. As Itachi guessed, Sasuke was called to the stand first. Itachi did his thing, even convincing the jury that Sasuke was a good kid which was hard to pull off. Childhood was good, life was wonderful all of that. But then came who they were up against. Genma. Not going to be east to defeat him.
He smiled as he went up to Sasuke, "Hi nice to meet you, I'm Genma." He outstretched his hand and all Sasuke did was glare. He cleared his throat and withdrew. An Uchiha rejecting you was always very outputting. "Would you mind telling me what your childhood was like?"
"Fine." Sasuke caught a stare from Itachi and sighed, "It was eventful, full of paparazzi." This peaked Genma's interest.
"Really? Must've been tough. Living with all eyes on you. Do you recall your tenth birthday party?"
"…Vaguely." He motioned for him to describe what he remembered and Sasuke rose a brow, "Sorry, what does this have to do with anything?"
"I'm getting there, please describe what you remember."
"Okay. We invited everybody we knew and I got a bunch of gifts. Everything I asked for, the whole family was there except…" Sasuke trailed off.
"Except?" Silence, so Genma finished for him, "Except for your parents right?"
"…"
"Yes or no?"
"…They weren't there, but they still sent a message - "
"And what about when you were 16 or graduated from high school, or signed your contract for modeling or went to your first interview? Or started college? Maybe when you first drank? Were they there for all of that?"
"…They weren't."
Genma turned towards the jury. "Data and statistics show us absent parents cause trauma in many children. Which could lead to violent tendencies. Isn't it true that many people would say you have a short temper Sasuke?"
"I guess, but I – "
"Weren't you always jealous that Itachi harbored more attention than you? Your parents were absent for the important times in your life? Didn't that hurt?" Sasuke turned towards Itachi for help, it practically this was a strategy. And a good one, he couldn't do anything about it. "Didn't it Sasuke? Answer the question!"
"I don't have to, this doesn't even matter!"
"Who was there for you when you first got your license or when you finally drove? Did you father even teach you to shave or did your mother cook for you at all?"
Sasuke grew impatient, "Shut up…"
"This made you angry after all those years right? It's possible to anger you in this fashion right?"
"Stop it!"
"If Danzo provoked you, you could get angry right? And hurt him right?"
"Shut up! Shut up!"
"He did something to you to make you hurt him! Maybe even kill him? I'm right aren't I!?"
Itachi grimaced, "Objection!"
"Overruled." The judge watched on as Genma continued.
"Could you get angry enough to hurt someone? Could you!?"
Sasuke growled, "Shut the hell up, he provoked me, back off!" The room went silent. Itachi face palmed and Genma smirked. Sasuke realized what he had done and sat back down, angry at himself. Genma seemed proud of himself and looked at the judge.
"No further questions, your honor."
When Sasuke was called down from the stand, he made his way back to sit next to Itachi, he could feel the angry aura radiating from him. Genma called in another person, making them all turn towards the doors opening. They were shocked to see Naruto. Naruto seemed nervous to be there. He was in an orange hoodie with sunglasses resting atop his head. His sleeves were rolled up and he had on black sweatpants with black socks and Nike socks. Genma must've called him up earlier and Naruto must've rushed over. Naruto wouldn't be caught dead looking like that. Naruto glanced at Sasuke and gave a small wave, Sasuke rolled his eyes and felt a little relieved. Naruto gave his oath and sat in the stand. This time around Genma went first.
"Namikaze…Naruto right?"
Naruto did his signature grin, the younger part of the jury swooned. "The one and only."
Genma smiled, "I'm under the impression that you know Sasuke?"
"We're like brothers." Naruto didn't miss a beat, which made Sasuke glad he was there. Genma made a pained look and cleared his throat.
"'Like brothers?' I didn't know brothers could have a relationship like the two of you had." Naruto was silent for some time and Sasuke flinched at the comment. Sasuke was in no way ashamed of what he's done in his past and how he's lived. It's no secret to Itachi, Shisui, Obito, and Izuna that he and Naruto had their little tryst in the last but that was over now. Had been for a while. Sasuke was just uncomfortable with the prospect of revealing that to the rest of the family without his consent.
"What exactly do you mean by that?" Naruto finally responded.
"You and Sasuke had…sexual relations before, am I wrong?"
Naruto sighed, "Yeah, and?" Sasuke could hear the family gasp, which was something he didn't want to head, thank you. Genma faltered for a bit and glanced away, a bit put off. Naruto rose a brow and leaned back. Looking unimpressed, "Homophobia run in your family or…?" Sasuke snickered and ignored Itachi's disapproving glare.
"Ahem. So that would make you…?"
"Pansexual."
"Right. Despite what your relationship is with Sasuke now, can you describe to me what type of person he is to you?"
"Sarcastic, smart, witty, hilarious as hell."
"Yes, yes, anything else?"
"Not really."
Genma seemed to be angry that he wasn't getting anywhere. "I'm aware you two have gotten into physical alterations before."
"Initiated by me I'm sorry to say." Naruto held eye contact with Genma for a while, smirking. Genma figured it was a good move to call Naruto in here and turn him against Sasuke to get something out. Preferably his attitude and his anger towards things. But Naruto really wasn't budging which he didn't expect. At this point, there was nothing he could do. Genma sighed, "No further questions, your honor."
Itachi stood and smirked at Genma, Genma groaned and sat down. Itachi smiled over at Naruto, "Hey Naruto."
"Hi Itachi~" Naruto smiled.
This portion of the trial went well for the family. No ups or downs and Naruto helped make the jury believe Sasuke to be the type of person to protect his family and his friends. Genma was at a loss and called for a recess, the judge accepted, a recess for thirty minutes. The family left the courtroom with mixed feelings. Naruto was told to stay as he might be called to the stand again. He and Sasuke bro hugged and fist pumped as well as a handcuffed man could do with his best friend.
Sasuke thought he was off the hook with messing up back there, but clearly Itachi didn't forget and did scold him very much.
Izuna sat down, "So now what? Things are going okay?"
Itachi shrugged, "Not really. To be honest it's pretty hard to tell so early on. I already know who'll be called to the stand next. A lot of people you know," Itachi looked at Sasuke. "Genma is pushing for the whole family ordeal and how you are in every day life to win this trial. But I'm pretty sure they'll have more to say about what a "good person" you are."
Sasuke was a little offended that he put air quotes around good person. "Who'll be called to the stand next?" Obito asked.
"Karin, Ino, Temari, and Sakura."
Sasuke sweat dropped, "Wow, I see a running trend here."
"Yeah, he's using the fact that all those people would definitely have something bad to say about you. Since they are, you know, exes."
Fugaku let out a breath, "We have twenty five minutes left to debrief so let's do it," they all agreed.
Getting back into the courtroom was a disaster. This time around there were cameras everywhere. Paparazzi, and the courtroom was filled. Fugaku reason for only the fist half to be silent. At this point on, anything they did would be out for the world to see. Sasuke made out Karin and Temari sitting down in the courtroom. His eyes caught wind of a pink haired girl with brown roots. She turned and Sasuke's breath caught in his throat.
Her hair was long enough to reach her back. She was dawning a pink spaghetti strap that revealed her stomach and black shorts. He assumed she was just called there as well. Their eyes locked and Sakura gave him a faint smile, waving. A small smile crept it's way onto his face as he waved as best he could with handcuffs. He took his seat and let the trial continue. Genma and Itachi made their case yet again and a few words from the judge were spared. The first who was called to the stand was Temari. Her appearance really changed from last he saw her. She dawned her spiky blonde hair in pigtails now and she looks better. Much better, which was technically a bad thing. Someone like Genma would assume she looked better because they weren't together anymore.
Itachi went first, it was hard to tell how things were going. Temari answered questions without hesitation. Itachi left the courtroom feeling like Sasuke was am indecisive person, definitely violent, but not enough to kill anyone. Which was a bit far fetched to get them to believe. Sasuke was sure that half of the jury believed he did murder Danzo. He knows he hurt the man but he knows he couldn't have died from that. But he doesn't kw what actually happened, and the Uchiha wasn't really trying to reveal their last here. Which is probably exactly what Root wants.
Karin was called to the stand next. She smiled at Sasuke and Sasuke wanted to roll his eyes but he didn't want look like too big of a douchebag on camera. Seeing as this was sort of a trial that would decided his fate. Either he was in for life or he got the death sentence which really wasn't something he wanted. Genma went up first this time around.
"So, Karin right?" She nodded and batted her eyes. She was naturally a flirt so Genma had to get a bit comfortable. "You and Sasuke did actively have a relationship, correct? How long did that last?"
"One year, two months, three weeks, and a day." It was unnerving that she remembered that so well when Sasuke didn't even remember they went out half of the time. He could feel bad for that but he didn't for bad for most things. The courtroom obviously was shocked that she could remember that.
"Can you describe your relationship to me?"
"There was never a boring moment," she said it kind of solemnly, "Sasuke is a fun guy so that's no surprise. We didn't argue much, when we did it was usually because I was jealous. Sasuke didn't rally get jealous…"
"If you never really argued, why'd you break up?"
"…I knew he started to get feelings for someone else."
"Who was?"
"Sakura." Karin scoffed after she said it and glared Sakura's way. Sasuke caught if and turned towards Sakura. Sakura rolled her eyes and glanced at Sasuke. She made a gagging motion and Sasuke couldn't help but to chuckle a bit.
"You broke up with him?"
"He broke up with me."
"How'd that go?"
Sasuke heard Itachi scoff and looked at him, "This is so pointless. But the judge is obviously interested." Sasuke sighed and leaned back in his chair. Karin answered the question by saying that she didn't expect it. And that Sasuke brought it upon her out of the blue. Afterwards she caught wind that he and Sakura were hanging out more so she pieced two and two together. Sasuke could hear the jury and out of the corner of his eye he saw their disapproving glares.
"False. I went out with Ino afterwards." Itachi shrugged at Sasuke's comment.
"They don't seem to care. Hopefully Sakura can salvage the situation. Ino is running late for the trial so I don't know that'll go."
Genma swung the trial in a different direction and asked if Karin still had feelings for Sasuke after all this time. She hesitated to answer but she did, "…Yes." She looked his way but furrowed her brows when she noticed he wasn't paying attention and staring at Sakura instead.
"Does he know?"
"Yes."
"Does he care?"
"…No."
Genma clicked his tongue and looked at the jury, "No regard for feelings. That checks that trait off the list. Violent tendencies, disrespectful, and he doesn't care about others. If that doesn't sound like the traits of a murderer than I don't know what does. I ask you to look at the facts of the matter ladies and gentlemen of the jury. Uchiha Sasuke is a brash, headstrong man who doesn't seem to care for most things. What does that sound like to you? A man who did no wrong to the world passed away years ago and it was never looked into. Should we really ignore this yet again? Don't let a murderer," Genma pointed towards Sasuke, "walk away free. And be celebrated just because he's famous."
The way Genma spoke made him seem passionate about it but Itachi saw through it all. Something wrong was found on her but he couldn't put his finger on it. Genma knew too much about their personal lives and what to ask to them directly. When Itachi got up to question Karin, as Genma was sitting down, Itachi caught his wrist.
He had a hunch, and testing it would probably make him seem odd but he didn't care. "Did Root teach you how to gather information like that?"
Genma smirked, "They sure did." Itachi sucked his teeth when Genma sat down.
.
Izumi opened her eyes, she doesn't remember when she fell asleep. Or how she could fall asleep while handcuffed to a chair. Her stomach hurt and she really hoped no one did anything to her while she was asleep. She glanced around. Other the computers, there was a knife, a locked drawer and a pair of glasses. She glanced at the door to see it was locked. She maneuvered her self to the knife and grabbed it with her free hand. She tried to break the lock on the cuffs but they were too strong. She cursed.
The chair was wooden though, if she could break off the part handcuffed to it, she could walk free. The cuffs would still be on her but she wouldn't be chained to anything. She went to work. It took a long time but she eventually broke off of it and fell to the floor. She smiled in victory.
"…Okay, now to find my phone and get to Itachi." She assumed the drawer would have it but she heard noises coming out side the door and she crept over to hear what they were saying. She recognized one of the voices as Shin but she couldn't make out the other one.
"Kakashi, if you can't even get through to Obito, how the hell will they be able to find us?"
"…I could call Rin, the trial is going on right now so of course the Uchiha don't be available. I'll send then the location."
Izumi widened her eyes. They were trying to let the Uchiha find them? Her heart told her to have hope and that Itachi could find her. But her mind told her this could all be a ruse.
.
The trial had been going on for about five hours now, with things still at a stalemate. Sakura still hadn't gone the stand and Itachi figured it was because Genma wanted to save her for last. She and Sasuke did have the longest relationship out of all his exes. Almost three years. Right about now they were having a recess, the trial would continue in about forty five minutes. Sakura was on a war path.
Karin said some questionable things while she was on the stand. Like how Sakura stole Sasuke from her and how Sakura tried to get Sasuke to cheat on Karin with her. Which was all false. But Sakura couldn't s anything about if while she was on the stand. Last time Sakura saw Karin she couldn't kick her was but she want going to get stopped this time around. She was looking for the room the Uchiha were in when she bumped into someone.
She wished her eyes when she saw Ino. Her long blonde hair in her signature ponytail and her one bang cascading down her face. Her blue eyes were widened as well. She was wearing black jeans and a purple crop top. Sakura hadn't seen or spoken to Ino since she first started dating Sasuke which was a long time ago.
"Sakura…" Ino started. Sakura could barely remember what good friends they were. Her, Hinata and Sakura were good friends. And Sakura couldn't help but to feel in the wrong, Ino was with Sasuke before her after all. "I didn't expect to see you here."
"Likewise." Awkward. Sakura sighed, "Look Ino, I'm sorry."
"…For what?"
"I know you loved Sasuke."
"Oh…I – "
"Let me finish. What Karin said in that courtroom was straight bullshit. That I stole Sasuke from her. But it could be said for me and you."
"You didn't steal Sasuke from me. We were already broken up and I was with Kiba."
"Kiba was a rebound. It's crazy, it's like we can't stop dating the same guys and it ruined us. I actually miss you. Even though you love my sloppy seconds Ino-pig."
Ink snorted, "Shut up forehead. But yeah, you're right. You went out with Kiba, and then I did. I went out with Sasuke and then you did. You went out with Sai and now we're together."
"…How's that going by the way?"
"Trying to get him to stop being a douche but nothing is working so far."
"Good luck with that." They looked at each other for a while and sighed, hugging. They had a real good relationship before guys got involved and it hurt for them to grow apart after knowing each other since freshmen year in high school. Reconciliation felt nice. In no way were they blaming Kiba, Sasuke, and Sai for their current relationship. But them talking again was long overdue.
"I've missed you."
"Same here." Sakura smiled and let out a breath, "I have to go handle something, I'll text you." Ino nodded and left.
Back on that war path. She finally found the room and the guards were hard to convince to let her go inside. Once she was inside she found exactly who she was looking for. All the Uchiha were inside and sitting down, except for Izumi to her surprise. They were clearly shocked to see her there, Sakura took note of how Sasuke wasn't cuffed at the moment and Karin was standing next to him, very close to him. Sakura rushed towards her before any one could react.
She grabbed Karin by the hair and swung her to the ground before she could do anything. Karin had fists in her face in a matter of seconds. Sakura could punch and it was clear to every one in the room. Sasuke grimaced, all those punches he endured from her during their relationship was nothing compared to this. Eventually Shisui tried to pry Sakura off of Karin, but Karin pulled Sakura down by her leg and gave her a clean slap across her face.
"Ouch." Was voiced by everyone in the room. Karin had rings on and the sound of the slap was heard through the room.
"Why are you all just watching? Pull them apart!" Madara reasoned, despite the fact that he was enjoying seeing them fight.
Sasuke grabbed Sakura and pulled her out from under Karin. Shisui grabbed Karin she held her back. Sakura a managed to rip her shoe off and throw it, it hit Karin's eye directly. Karin groaned and covered her left eye.
"What the hell is wrong with you?! Why are you fighting?" Mikoto stepped between the two.
Sakura tried to rip herself from Sasuke's hold to no avail. "Tell the bitch to stop lying about shit!"
"What are you talking about?" Itachi asked.
"She knows what! I stole Sasuke from you? What kind of lie is that?"
Karin scoffed, "You're just worried about your reputation. Look what you did to my eye!" She moved her hand and every one sucked a breath at the forming bruise, "I should press charges."
"Go ahead whore!" Karin growled, and once Shisui's guard was down, she leapt forward and pulled Sakura down by her hair, ripping her out of Sasuke's arms.
"Hey!" Shisui had a warning tone of voice.
Karin was able to get in a few licks before Sakura kicked her so that she was on the floor. And she kept hitting the same bruise which was a low blow. After a lot of punching and scratching, Sasuke dragged Sakura outside of the room. While Shisui had to calm down Karin in the corner of another room.
Sakura kept trying to go back into the room but Sasuke wouldn't let her. "Let go of me Sasuke!"
Sasuke grabbed her face and made her look at him, "Calm down." She let her breathing even out and let him sit her down on a chair outside the room. "What was that about?"
Sakura grit her teeth, "The bitch told lies about me. Now the whole world thinks I made you cheat on her with me. Which I would never do."
"There's not much we could do about it now. But I gotta say, that left hook was killer." Sakura scoffed.
.
The deciding factor of the trial would be met soon. They decided to still hold off on Sakura going on the stand so they called Naruto back on the stand. Which didn't go as well as it did last time. Genma figured out a different angle that made Naruto a little flustered. They talked about Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke's relationship as friends as a whole. But it lead into…a different topic.
"How do you feel about Sasuke currently?"
"Didn't you already ask me that? We're like broth – "
"I didn't a what you were like. How do you feel about him? Or rather, how did you used you feel about him?" Naruto was silent so Genma continued, "Your relationship was unstable am I wrong? Sexual affairs but you still treated each other like best friends. How did you used to feel? Was he like a brother, or was it something more?"
Still, Naruto was silent. And Sasuke was listening intently because this was news to him. "You liked him in a different way but knew you'd get shot down right?"
"W-what? That's not – "
"Don't lie! You did grow feelings outside of friendship! Which is natural, considering all of it. You were like his play thing right?"
"No, you're wrong – "
"Answer the question Naruto! You felt something but you knew you'd get rejected! Right? Answer!"
"Objection!"
"Overruled!"
"Answer the question!"
"I – no, that's not true!" Naruto looked over at Sasuke, Sasuke had a shocked look on his face obviously. As did everyone in the courtroom.
"You're under oath, tell me the truth." Naruto sucked in his teeth and hung his head low. The courtroom grew silent, so quiet that you could hear a cotton ball drop. After a few minutes, Naruto finally responded to the question truthfully.
"…It's true." Gasps and stunned noises were heard everywhere. Genma smiled in victory and rested his case. There wasn't anything Itachi could follow up with that and he rested his case. The jury went to the back to discuss the case. Itachi tried to reassure Sasuke by saying if he jury was back there long enough it meant someone was fighting for him. Sasuke glanced over at Naruto leaving the courtroom.
"Naruto – "
"Not now Sasuke." His tone of voice made Sasuke's mouth clamp shut. Naruto probably wasn't going to speak to him for weeks after this. If he was getting out of here. But he knows how hard Itachi worked to get him out, how hard he's still working.
.
It took a few hours, and it was night by the time the jury had reached a verdict. Everyone's hearts were racing when one of the jury members stood with papers in hand. All eyes turned to him. He cleared his throat and shot a look of sympathy Sasuke's way and that wasn't very assuring. The Judges voice boomed throughout the courtroom, "Has the Jury reached a verdict?"
"We have, your honor. We have decided with all the evidence given to us and all the questioning. We've decided that Uchiha Sasuke is…"
Itachi gripped Sasuke's hand and the entire family held their breath.
"Guilty."
…Sorry not sorry? I apologize for the wait. Leave a nice review!
~SpaceIsTheLimit~