I'm sorry I updated so late! My family moved so I was busy packing and unpacking. Also, I couldn't work on this in the car. Please forgive!
Itachi paced restlessly around the house, waiting for his parents to come back. His father finally came back at around noon, but Mikoto was not with him.
"Father, what's wrong with Mother?" Itachi asked.
Fugaku kneeled in front of his son. To Itachi's surprise, he was smiling. "I have great news for you, Itachi."
"What, Father?"
"You are going to be a big brother soon." As the words sunk in, Itachi's eyes grew huge. He hugged Fugaku, who hugged him right back.
"This means Ane has two younger brothers now, right?" Itachi wondered.
"That's right." Fugaku patted Itachi's head, "And about your sister, I have a Clan meeting tonight where the Clan will be discussing the incident of Kaeri. Your mother will be coming home in the afternoon, and she'll be staying with you. Don't worry your mother now."
Itachi nodded enthusiastically. When his little brother comes, Itachi won't be the youngest in the family anymore. He couldn't wait to be a big brother now.
The next morning…
"Itachi! Wake up! You have to come to the village meeting!" Shisui exploded into Itachi's room, scaring the latter half to death.
"Shisui! What are you doing here?" Itachi yelled.
"I let him in," Mikoto said from the doorway, laughing at the boys' way of greeting each other.
"Yeah. I came to get you so we could go to the village meeting together!" Shisui babbled.
"The two of you can go together as long as you don't cause any trouble and remain respectful as Hokage-sama speaks," Mikoto chided.
"We will!" The two boys chorused.
Itachi raced to Tsubaki's room. "Ane, I'm…" his voice trailed off as yesterday's events rushed back to him. Mikoto laid a comforting hand on her son's shoulder.
"Look! They're starting!" Shisui said, pulling on Itachi's hand to urge Itachi into running faster.
"I have both good news and bad news to share!" the Yondaime Hokage called to the assembled villagers and shinobi, "I ask that you listen carefully."
"As you probably all know by now, the Third Great Shinobi World War has come to an end!" Cheers erupted from the crowd. "I would like to acknowledge all of our courageous ninjas and talented medics who helped Konoha deal with it. However, two of our guard ninjas were killed two nights ago. Their bodies were found at the South Gate." Mumurs of shock and fear ran through the villagers and shinobis tensed.
"Our valued ninja, Uchiha Kaeri, was also murdered on the same night." Screams came from some villagers and questions were hurled from all sides of the crowd. The Hokage waved for silence, but it was a while before he could be heard again.
"I will take your questions one by one, starting with you in the front." He pointed to a tall man at the front of the crowd.
"How was she killed?" the man asked.
"Her heart was pierced with a kunai. That was the only wound found on her body."
"What happened to the Yang Sword?" a woman wearing a hat called.
"Unfortunately, the Yang Sword has disappeared. The ANBU has not been able to locate it," the Hokage replied.
Talking rose among the people in the crowd once more. The chattering kept going on and on until another voice shouted, "What about Uchiha Tsubaki?"
Itachi strained his ears to hear what the Hokage would say to that.
"Uchiha Tsubaki, like the Yang Sword, has also vanished. Now," the Hokage held up his hands as the silence threatened to shatter again, "I know you must all be wondering if Tsubaki killed Kaeri, but the ANBU has looked into this and discovered nothing that suggests this is how Kaeri died. Until evidence is found, we will maintain that Kaeri was killed by an unknown shinobi."
There was some muttering at this, but no one argued out loud. The Hokage continued with news.
"The Sannin Orochimaru has also decided to leave us. Last night, the Third Hokage…" the Fourth gestured to the old man, who was standing beside him, "…discovered him doing experiments on living humans."
"What kind of experiments?" Shisui called out, unable to contain his curiosity.
The Fourth glanced down at where he and Itachi stood. "He was trying to create a jutsu that grants the user immortality."
"And how is that bad?" Shisui asked. Itachi tugged on his friend's sleeve to try to get him to shut up.
"He was using living humans against their will. Orochimaru would dissect them and mutilate them. When one of them died, he would capture another person to replace it."
Shisui looked a little green, and Itachi felt queasy.
"Perhaps you two should go home," the Fourth suggested lightly.
After the meeting…
"How was the meeting, dear?" Mikoto asked Itachi. Shisui had gone back home to tell his parents the big news.
"There seemed to be more bad news than good news," Itachi replied.
"Tell us," Fugaku invited.
"Well, they did talk about Tsubaki and Kaeri," Itachi said.
"What did the Hokage say about them?"
"He said that until evidence is found, it will be assumed that Kaeri was killed by an unknown shinobi."
"That's good. I won't have my daughter charged with a crime she didn't commit." Fugaku took a sip of tea.
"Anything else?" Mikoto asked.
"Orochimaru left Konoha." Itachi remembered.
Fugaku nearly choked. "What?"
"One of the Legendary Sannin has abandoned the village?" Mikoto stared at Itachi.
"That's what Hokage-sama said." Itachi was slightly startled by his parents' reactions.
"The war is over but Konoha still suffers," Fugaku muttered.
"I'm sure it won't be like this forever," Mikoto soothed her husband.
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