I'll Make My Own

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope that you all enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 7

The next day, Menma corners Daisuke into some training again. Hinata's advice sounded pretty logical to her. Well as logical as anything ever got with the Uchiha Clan anyway.

"So no Jutsus." Daisuke raises an eyebrow. "Are you sure that you really want to go that route?"

The blonde wasn't sure if his confidence was sexy as hell as annoying as fuck honestly. Again, it was just an Uchiha thing. How Hinata was able to navigate such a thing was beyond her.

She shakes her head at the thought. "Must be the fishnets." That's probably what kept Sasuke in line.

"Fishnets?" Sasuke shoots her a confused look.

Damn it. She shouldn't have said that out loud. What was wrong with her?

She smirks at him. "Nevermind." Menma was clearly spending way too much time around Hinata. "I was just thinking out loud, but yeah I'm sure."

He was so going down. She had seen enough to know that Daisuke was always holding back with her. He wasn't exactly babying her, but that Rinnegan spoke volumes.

Had he wanted to, Daisuke could have killed her. They were just all lucky, he wasn't an enemy ninja.

"Alright." He shrugs. "Just remember, I warned you." He shifts into position.

It was like watching a tiger or something getting ready to hunt. Alright. It wasn't annoying right now. It was just hot.

"I was never very good at listening to warnings." She charges at him.

Daisuke dodges and Flickers behind her. It took him what Menma was sure was a millisecond to send a kick at her back.

She goes flying, but not before grabbing his foot and pulling him with her. "This is a lot tougher than I thought it'd be." Menma pants slightly as they roll around with each other.

Pinning Daisuke Uchiha was no easy feat. That much was for damn sure.

"You didn't actually think that it would be that easy." Daisuke smirks at her.

They continue rolling and rolling. Daisuke was still holding back, she could feel it. That was fine though.

Menma would teach him not to underestimate her! "Oh yeah?!" She manages to pin him underneath her. "What do you think about this, tough guy?"

Daisuke just looks up at her and laughs. That arrogant sexy bastard. She'd show him who was boss!

"I think that is a rather suggestive position that you have my foolish little brother in." A chuckle interrupts Menma's taunting.

Damn it. "Itachi?" Somehow that sneaky bastard had snuck upon her while she was pinning the sexy arrogant bastard.

Uchihas. You couldn't keep nothing from them. It wasn't fair!


Orochimaru drums his fingers against his desk deep in thought. What Danzo had proposed certainly had its advantages. There was a high level of risk involved as well though.

"Kabuto, I want some of our spies to watch the Leaf Village." He looks over the report that the silver haired medic had just handed him. "Specifically, the Uchihas and Danzo." Also his underlings, but that went without saying.

Part of the reason why the Sannin had such a difficult time trusting the fossil was because to some degree they were alike. Their village had recognized their talents, but had never fully appreciated them and thus, they had been left to craft a band of followers to achieve their ends.

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru." Kabuto bows to him. "Will that be all?"

Why did he get the impression he was forgetting something important? Orochimaru couldn't put his fingers on it.

Oh right. "Confirm or disprove the rumors." There was supposedly a second Sasuke out there.

While the youngest son of Fugaku and Mikoto was nowhere near as studious as Itachi, he did have potential. Besides, to some degree a Sharingan was a Sharingan.

Kabuto nods at him. "Of course, Lord Orochimaru." If there was one thing he could count on it was the spy in his service.

Yes, that was ironic and Orochimaru knew that. It was still true though. He doubted he had a more loyal follower in his service now.

The only people he could think of who were on par or perhaps more loyal were Kimimaro and Guren. Both of whom were dead.

"Excellent." The Sannin smiles at him. "We need to account for every possible variable." If there really as a second Sasuke, there was no telling what his abilities would be.

Kabuto nods and heads off to organize the spy. Ah. It was so nice to have good help these days. His servants were definitely better than Danzo's.

It was such a shame that he hadn't been able to get Itachi's body. Oh well. He'd find the perfect vessel soon.

"This might be the way to do that." He smirks at that thought.

It might also lead to his death. The Uchiha Clan had only grown stronger over time and now that Sasuke was involved with the Hyuga girl, they likely had an informal alliance with them.

"He couldn't court just any Hyuga." Orochimaru rolls his eyes at that. "The boy had to go and get involved with the Heiress."

He probably should have expected it though. Uchihas were a Clan full of perfectionists and likely would settle for nothing less than the best.


Itachi shakes his head in amusement. He certainly hadn't anticipated this most entertaining sight.

"It's not what it looks like!" Menma and Daisuke blush as if they were one entity.

Right. It might not be what it looked like now, but apparently it was going to be.

He smiles at them. "It's alright." He walks over as Menma and Daisuke were getting up and pokes his brother's forehead. "You're a grown man now and the other version of you already has a girlfriend. There's nothing wrong with you doing the same."

How red could Daisuke's face turn, Itachi wonders to himself. The answer was apparently extremely. He must be on his third shade of red by now and Daisuke was almost surely about to start on the fourth.

"Itachi!" Daisuke glowers at him.

Hmm. They even had the same glower. It seemed to some extent, they really were the same person.

Itachi chuckles and shakes his head. "Forgive me." It was too amusing to taunt him. He really should refrain from doing so though.

Menma sighs and crosses her arms. "Well, I guess he wants some brotherly bonding time or something." She was so cute. Sulking like a little kitten who had gotten wet.

She wasn't wrong though. He desperately needed to speak with Daisuke alone. He wouldn't open up with Menma watching and Itachi had to know the truth.

"You're correct in your assumption." He nods at her.

Daisuke raises an eyebrow at that. "You're still the same." He laughs softly. "Right down to how you talk."

Itachi wasn't really sure if that was a good thing by Daisuke's standards or not. Still, that was interesting to know.

"Good." He smiles at him. "I hope that you don't mind, my borrowing him for the rest of the day, Menma."

The girl actually has the audacity to roll her eyes at him. She really was Kushina's daughter.

"It's not like I get a choice." The blonde shrugs. "You're going to whisk him away no matter what I say anyway." Her annoyance was palpable, but she wasn't wrong.

He chuckles at that and nods. "Astute as always." Itachi then turns his attention towards Daisuke. "Shall we?"

For a moment, Daisuke hesitates. Whether he was worried about offending Menma or worried about being alone with Itachi was hard to say, but he eventually follows the elder Uchiha off.

"It's never a good thing when someone essentially says, we need to talk." Daisuke sighs.

Itachi glances at him as they make their way further away from Menma. "I'm not entirely sure in this case, but I do have some questions." Daisuke winces and response and Itachi mentally does the same.

So something had happened. Something awful most likely. Why else would someone with the Rinnegan wince at a few questions.

"It doesn't matter what happened over there." Daisuke looks at him almost mournfully. "Everything is better over here and I don't blame you."

He didn't blame him? That didn't sound promising at all. It appeared that he was right. This talk was necessary.

"Curiosity is a powerful force, Daisuke." Itachi shoots him an almost apologetic smile. "Even I can't resist it sometimes. I'm afraid the sake of my sanity and yours, I have to know." After all, it wasn't healthy for someone to keep secrets indefinitely.


Mikoto looks at Izumi. "So you're really worried about him then?" That probably wasn't a good sign.

If Itachi's wife was worried, there had to be a reason. Those two had been Academy Sweethearts and everything. Whether they had wanted to admit it or not.

"A little." She shakes her head and sighs. "I can tell that it bothers him Daisuke isn't talking to him much and I doubt that's out of shyness."

Compared to Sasuke, Daisuke was on the reserved side. Still, Mikoto was inclined to agree with her daughter-in-law.

She sighs as she helps her cook. "Well, I'm sure they'll sort it out." The Uchiha matriarch smiles at her slyly. "If not, we'll just have to do what we do best."

Izumi giggles at that. It was a soothing sound, really. There was little wonder why Itachi had fallen for her so early on.

"Meddle?" She glances at her hopefully.

Mikoto nods in agreement. "Exactly." She chuckles at the thought as gets out some dishes. "Oh and if worse comes to worst, we can always enlist Kushina in our efforts."

Now, that was one woman who never gave up. For goodness sakes, she even scared Mikoto sometimes and that wasn't easy to do. She was married to the Chief of the Leaf's Military Police Force, after all.

"Now, that's just fighting dirty." Izumi laughs.

Oh yes, it was. That didn't mean that Mikoto wouldn't do it though.


Sasuke sighs as he and Itachi manage to find a place that was safe from prying eyes. His heart was sinking with every second that passed by. He didn't know how to explain this.

"You said you don't blame me." Itachi meets his gaze. "Which implies I did something horrible and you've also implied that it isn't something that I did by choice."

His brother was too good at this sort of thing. Why did Itachi have to know everything? Shouldn't that violate some sort of law of nature?

Well, there was no going back now. "You would be correct in your assumptions." So he might as well try to get this over with.

"Clever." The elder Uchiha shakes his head as though what Sasuke said was delightfully entertaining. "Though using my own words against me will not save you from this." He looks at him with guilty eyes. "I need to know what happened and it's not healthy for you to keep this all bottled inside either."

He was right. It wasn't healthy. Itachi also did have a right to know, but what good would come of it?

The other man would just feel horribly guilty about something that he hadn't even done in this world. Did he really need to know? For the most part, his brother was happy here. Other than wondering about the other world.

"That world ruins everything it touches." Sasuke couldn't keep the bitterness out of his voice. "This world is better. Happier."

He was almost pleading with Itachi to stop now. To just let it be. It didn't matter anymore.

Itachi frowns at that. "Daisuke, it didn't ruin everything it touched." His brother didn't waste any time embracing him. "It certainly didn't ruin you, but I need to know what happened."

Sasuke returns the embrace and silently prays for strength. He couldn't fall to pieces in front of Itachi, especially not this version. This version that hadn't been touched by the darkness of that hell, he had just left behind.

"Our Clan is all dead." Sasuke barely recognizes his own voice. "They've been dead for a long time. You didn't have a choice." Why did he have to say this? "They were planning a coup because of being discriminated against and isolated for so long and it would have led to a civil war in the Leaf."

His brother was always a genius. Sasuke could see him filling in the blanks disturbingly quickly because he was Itachi. Itachi always knew everything.

He sighs and looks at him with even more guilty eyes. "I see." Why had he been forced to tell him? "Well, I'd rather know than not know. I can't imagine what it must have been like for you, living with that secret."

He would have preferred to take that secret to his grave actually. Unfortunately, fate had never been that kind to him.

"I'm more worried about you than me." Sasuke sighs as he dares himself to look into Itachi's eyes. "You didn't do it in this world, Itachi. Don't feel guilty."

It wasn't his fault. It had never been his fault. Hopefully, Itachi would be able to see that though.

Itachi smiles at him sadly. "I realize that, Daisuke." He places his hand on his shoulder. "It's alright. The truth was going to come out later and while I certainly can't say that I'm happy about it, at least now I know why you're so skittish around me."

Was he really skittish around him? Probably. It was for good reason though.

"I'm sorry for avoiding you." Sasuke just hadn't know how to act around him.

Itachi shakes his head. "It's alright." He smiles at him slyly as though hew as about to let Sasuke in on some great secret. "So about you and the Hokage's daughter?"

Was that seriously all that anyone thought about in this place? It seemed that love was in the air or it would be if his meddling relatives had anything to say about it.

"Not you too." Sasuke sighs dramatically.

Itachi laughs and shakes his head. "You can't blame me for being curious." Yeah. That was true.

It was a good thing that the other Uchiha wasn't a cat in this world. Otherwise, curiosity would have killed him a long time ago.