Chapter Six: "I'm holding onto you, I'll never let go, I need you with me as I enter the shadows" ~ Shadows, Red

Soon. I'll die and leave you behind. I hope you are never angry with me, and I hope that the jar that I gave to remind you of all of those that are in our family and who love you, grows until it overflows and that your heart overflows with love. So much love… that you forget the pain I have caused you. Sasuke… Kosuke. Can you two do that for me?

But none of that mattered really.

"Diedara is dead and Sasuke perished with him as well."

My life… my will, my livelihood meant nothing. He felt his lungs stir and pain, but not as deeply as the sting in his heart. I need to know, Sasuke did you truly die? Or by the miracle of fate, did you survive.

The black crows fanned across the area of the explosion, looking for evidence, signs of life and the crows with the pitch black eyes found more than they bargained for. They found Sasuke who was sleeping and recovering from his battle. The relief that he had never known before filled him in ways that he didn't know were possible.

My little brother lives and all is well.

"Kosuke!" Yuki called out and rushed to grab her son as he ravaged through the cabinets as stood on the countertop. "What are you doing?" She asked, setting him down on his feet. The boy said nothing, letting his eyes fall onto his feet and not looking up at his mother. Yuki sighed, immediately knowing that it had something to do with his father. "What is it? I promise not to get mad."

"I was trying to find something to pick the lock of the room that Dad has locked up." Kosuke said. "Maybe… it can tell us where he is. He hasn't been home in a month." Yuki sighed.

"Kosuke…." She began, she wanted to say words that would sooth him, calm him and let him understand that Itachi wasn't always going to be home like most fathers.

"Mom!" He said, his eyes locking in onto hers and with a fierce look that she could have sworn that there was a red tint in those eyes of his. "I know Dad isn't always going to be home every single day, I get that! But… he shouldn't be gone for months at a time either. Normal shinobi just don't do that…" He said, trailing off. "Normal shinobi don't keep secrets from their families and they serve hidden villages."

"What makes you think that Dad doesn't serve a hidden village?"

"He doesn't have a forehead protector and we don't live in a hidden village." He whispered to his mother.

"I hope he's a normal kid and leads a happy, normal life." Itachi, he's not normal… he's too observant. He's too much like you. This won't change in him, I know. Yuki sighed and knelt in front of her four year old. Kosuke noticed that it took her longer to shift herself to kneel. "You're father serves the hidden leaf." She said. "We don't live inside the hidden leaf but… if you follow the river, right behind our home, you'll land right at its gates. We don't live there because of what a good shinobi your father is. He wants us protected and hidden." He looked at her in the eyes, she wasn't lying but she wasn't telling the truth either. Half and half, with how his eyes examined hers, she knew that he knew.

"When you are older, everything will be evident, Kosuke." But it wasn't Yuki who said that. She looked over her shoulder and found Itachi standing at the doorway. "I am sorry that I haven't been completely honest with Kosuke. Yuki, please stand up, kneeling or bending down is not good for your condition." He said, calmly. He's upset, and he knows without having the opportunity to telling him first. Yuki did get properly on her feet.

Kosuke looked between his parents. "What's wrong with Mom?" He asked.

Itach smiled softly. "Kosuke, go to your room please. I want to talk to you." Kosuke lowered his head again and walked out of the kitchen and towards the stairs. Once he was out of earshot, Itachi looked over at Yuki with burning red eyes. "You're pregnant." She nodded.

"It's still terrifying that your eyes can see that." He couldn't help but chuckle at that. "It's scary to think that at two months, the fetus is developing a chakra network." She whispered as she placed her hands on her still flat stomach and looked down. "What's wrong you seem upset?"

"Something did happen, but I was more upset with Kosuke's behavior."

Yuki sighed. "He's been like that lately. I think it's because of the people in the post town." Itachi raised an eyebrow. "We went grocery shopping in the post town twenty minutes away…. People were whispering and talking about us. He didn't like it, I could tell."

"They knew who you were?" He asked, his voice full of concern.

"No. But they were talking about how… I… they think I have no husband." Yuki said and looked up for a moment before looking down again. "I think Kosuke heard that, that he has no father and got upset." Itachi shook his head and sighed. "Since then he's been acting like that. Are you angry with him?" She asked.

Itachi smiled and shook his head and looked down at his own feet. "No, of course not. I'm surprised it took this long."

"He reminds me so much of you…" He looked up at her. "What happened that you came here?" She asked.

"Does something need to happen for me to come and see my family?" He asked softly. She shook her head. He smiled. "I thought Sasuke was dead, my crows found him. He's alright just… hurt, but he'll recover."

Yuki smiled, "That's good."

"He's coming for me."

Kosuke sat on his bed waiting for Itachi. He was playing with his wooden kunai and his wooden shuriken were laid in front of him on his bed. He tried to think back as far as he could to his early days. He remembered plenty of moments when both his parents were with him, but a majority of them were his mother. He recalled what they said as they went to the market.

"Does the child have no father?"

I do! He wanted to shout at them with a great ferocity that his father was the greatest man and they had no idea what they were talking about. But, then he thought, did he have a father? Was a father still a father if he was absent? He thought deeply about that question as he sat there and waited for Itachi to come in. The four year old was having his own mental conversation, rationalizing, thinking and wanting to let his feelings take over.

He didn't even notice the small box that was placed down in front of him but when he did he looked up to see Itachi smiling down at him. "Is there any reason for the sad expressions?" Itachi asked and sat at the foot of the bed. "I'm sorry about everything you heard at the market." He said. Kosuke looked at him expressionless at the moment. Kosuke and Itachi shared the same expression for a period of time before Itachi gave a long sigh. "Kosuke…. Your mother and I, we aren't like most married couplies." He said. "I know, you won't fully understand it now but you will in time."

Kosuke ran his thumb against the edge of the wood. "You are a good dad…" He said, catching Itachi off guard. "You are a good dad, and you are around. I just don't understand why no one kno-" He stopped he had to. He had never seen tears in Itachi's eyes. Small but they were there prickling at the edge with the brightest smile he had ever seen from his father. He didn't know what to do. His father had always been the strongest person he'd know. He'd seen his mother cry from emotions and assumed that's just what mothers did… but his father too. Was love truly this powerful?

Yes, look at your parents, yes love is this powerful.

Kosuke said nothing more. He stood on the bed and took two steps over to Itachi and wrapped his small arms around the shinobi's neck in a tight hug. Itachi hugged Kosuke back. It didn't matter what anyone else knew or didn't know, what they said or didn't say. This was his father and his father cared about him and his mother and he knew the truth of their family, the truth that mattered and that's all that should preoccupy his mind.

"I'm sorry, Dad." He whispered.

Itachi smiled, "It's ok. Try to be kinder to your mom. She's going through a rough time too. It bothers her too." He said. Kosuke sat down in front of him and Itachi brushed his hair back out of his forehead with his fingers. "I wasn't here for your birthday." He said and picked up the box that he left on the bed and handed it to Kosuke. Kosuke opened the box and gasped as he looked inside. He pulled out a kunai pouch. "This is for when you graduate the academy and become a gennin, Kosuke, not before that."

He smiled and hugged Itachi again, jumping out of his seated position, practically tackling the man. Itachi laughed at his enthusiasm. "Be a good shinobi, be humble in life, and value the village above all." He said. "And I am going to miss you very much." That last statement was barely audible but Kosuke did hear it.

He looked up at Itachi. "What do you mean?"

Itachi sighed and pulled away from him. "Kosuke… I need to talk to you, I was going to do it with your mother, but now seems more appropriate. One of the reasons why I haven't been around is because… I'm sick." He said. Kosuke felt his body becoming rigid and then his fingers shaking. Itachi took another deep breath. "This sickness… will take my life soon."

A/N: sorry that I ended this chapter like this. So much kid angst, lol. It was hard to write this chapter, no matter what I did I felt like I was making Itachi too ooc, but I also knew that I wanted him to tell the truth to Yuki and lie to Kosuke. He would let him fall into that spiral again. The story is going to pick up the pace from here on out. I hope you all enjoyed and I will try (try very hard) to keep updating once a week until it finishes.