"I'm impressed that you figured out this cure, Sakura! But I must say, it's very difficult to produce and even with my skills, I would probably finish it too late for Sasuke… I'm sorry!"
Tsunade's words fell down like a hammer. Sakura's eyes started to wet:
"No, there must be a way!"
"Listen, I will gather every talented medical-nin in the Land of Fire and I will contact even shinobi from other villages. You know that we have a teaching program for medical-nin from all the Five Great Nations. I am sure that they will help us!"
"Thank you, shisho… But I feel so hopeless!"
"Of course, it's about your husband. That's why I must ask you to keep your calm and your composure. Without them, you will fail!"
"So… let's start, shall we?"
"Let's!"
At Sakura's house, Itachi read the Monday Leaf, a popular magazine.
So, meatballs can develop a tasty crust if you overcook them for two minutes. I didn't know that. Sarada is at the Academy and Sakura is working at the cure… Maybe I should prepare them a surprise!
Itachi went to the kitchen and searched the fridge for meat. He then prepared meatballs, adding rice, tomato juice and peppermint, to give them an exotic flavor.
According to the magazine, I should overcook them for two minutes. But this stove won't do… Let's try this…
"Fire Style: Great Flame Jutsu!"
A powerful stream of fire hit the pan with the meatballs. However, the flames were a bit too hot and burned the entirety of the pan and even Itachi's arm. Due to the fact that he was a reanimated shinobi, his arm reconstructed quickly. However, half of the kitchen was wrecked!
Now I've done it… Maybe I should try again, but not with Fire Style…
After a few more tries, Itachi finally managed to prepare something that at least looked edible. Being a rogue ninja, he had to travel a lot in his life and home-cooked meals were out of the question for him. However, the Uchiha remembered his mother's recipes and, with a bit of advice from the magazine, it looked like he did a good job.
A few hours later, Sarada returned from the Academy.
"Mommy! I'm home!"
Instead of Sakura, it was Itachi who awaited her.
"Your mother has something important to do, Sarada-chan. So, I am here!"
"Uncle Itachi! Do you think mommy will save daddy?"
"So… you know about Sasuke?"
"Well… I've heard some rumors at the Academy and after classes, I sneaked in the Hokage's office and I heard him and Shikamaru-san talking about daddy. Is it true, Uncle Itachi? Will daddy die?"
Itachi looked towards his niece. He was impressed with the fact that she could manage to sneak inside the Hokage's office at such a young age. Sarada was really a promising kunoichi! Itachi reached out towards her with his hand full of cracks due to the Reincarnation jutsu and poked her in the forehead.
"Listen, Sarada-chan. You are a smart girl and I won't lie to you. I lied a lot to your father and that almost destroyed him so I won't make the same mistake with you! Your father is in a precarious position right now. There is a chance he will be fine, but there is also a chance he won't be. Like in shuriken training. You can completely miss the target and then you can hit the bull's eye. You must take in consideration a lot of factors: wind, position, your arm's tension. Same goes with your father. He has your mother and Tsunade-sama, who are the best medical-nin right now in the world. He has the best possible care! However, he has his own fight too. He must fight to live!"
Sarada smiled at Itachi. She was clearly more optimistic than before.
"Sarada-chan, while you were away, I cooked something for you, or at least, I tried!"
Her eyes glowed with happiness. She ran towards the kitchen, which looked absolutely abysmal but she didn't even flinch at the sight of the almost destroyed room.
"What have you prepared, Uncle Itachi? Is it dango? Or is it yakitori?"
"Well… no, there are some meatballs… or at least, that was my intention: for them to be meatballs!"
Sarada reached out the plate in front of her and ate one of the meatballs.
"They taste great, Uncle Itachi! You are an amazing cook!"
"You hate them, don't you?"
"No! I love them! You added the best ingredient, that makes them amazing!"
Itachi was confused.
"What ingredient? I don't think it's the rice because I overcooked it…"
"It's not the rice, Uncle… It's love! You made them for us, and you put love in it!"
Itachi was impressed and almost cried. However, his stoicism kept his feelings at bay.
"You can say that… It's just that… I love you, Sarada-chan!"
Sarada took another meatball and ate it almost immediately.
"But why, Uncle? You know me for so little time! I read in a book that feelings are built over a long time for them to grow!"
"Sarada-chan, you must not believe everything that you read, either in books or on that surf thing."
"Internet!"
"Yes… internet! You see, after I did what I did, I never imagined that the Uchiha clan would be restored at any point. You are also Sasuke's daughter and my niece, my flesh and blood. You are a hope for the family and for this village! I heard that you want to become Hokage in the future!"
"Yes!"
"You would be the first Uchiha Hokage in the history of the village. You will lead Konoha into a golden age even greater than this one! You have that potential! You are kind and loyal and very talented! But you must work immensely hard and never forget one thing: you must believe in your comrades!"
"I know, Uncle… But why are you talking like you won't be there with me?"
"Because I won't be there with you… At some point, the jutsu that keeps me reanimated must be undone. This isn't my world anymore! It's your world! Yours and your generation's. I watched some recordings from this year's Chunin exams. You kids are doing things I wouldn't even dream to do in my time! I remember that once Shisui and I tried to combine paper bombs with the Summoning jutsu! It didn't work very well… In fact, I was injured for a few days and I had to be spoon-fed by your father!"
Sarada started to laugh.
"Ha, ha, ha! Daddy spoon-fed YOU?"
"Well, I could've fed myself but he insisted that I should rest. He was such a good child…"
"Uncle, please, don't be sad! Tell me a happy story about daddy and you!"
"Well… I don't think there are many happy stories between us… Hmm… I remember the time me, Shisui and Sasuke went fishing to the Rizeki River."
"Tell me, tell me!"
"Well, Shisui and I had a mission. We had to escort a VIP to the Land of Tea. Father insisted that we should take Sasuke, that he should see a real shinobi mission. Your grandfather was quite the martinet, you know?"
"Ha, ha, ha!"
"In any case, your father was only 5 at the time and our mission turned into a babysitting mission instead of an escort one. Two days on the road and little Sasuke started to get bored. We stopped to resupply and Shisui had the bright idea to go fishing. As Sasuke wasn't bored enough. So, they left to the river. When I arrived there, I saw those two knuckleheads using the fishing poles like swords… They were training. They broke the fishing poles and we had to use our hands to fish!"
"Wow! You fished with your own hands?"
"Sasuke turned this thing into a contest. Whoever catches the most fishes, wins. He was quite happy to see us like that so we played along. I only managed to catch three, while Shisui caught nineteen!"
"How did he do it?"
"He put them under genjutsu and then easily picked them up!"
"Shisui-san cheated!"
"That he did. But Sasuke laughed like crazy at me for trying to catch those fishes with my bare hands. I looked ridiculous! He was so happy, so full of life! We had fun that day! Unlike the VIP, who almost went mad because of the hunger. We returned to the caravan three hours later!"
After the story, Sarada realized that the meatballs were over.
"I ate them all… Mommy will starve…"
"Don't worry! I had some for her too!"
"Really? You're the best, Uncle! Oh! Look at the time! I have to go to Konohamaru-sensei's house with Boruto and Mitsuki! We have nighttime training today!"
"Is that the Third Hokage's grandson?"
"Yes!"
"Very impressive! So he is a Jonin!"
"Yes, and Boruto is the son of Naruto-sama, the Seventh Hokage and Mitsuki is the son of a guy named Orochimaru but we don't know if Orochimaru is Mitsuki's father or his mother!"
Itachi was baffled. Not only Orochimaru had a son but he also had gender issues!
"Well, the man was always weird… Or woman…"
"Ha, ha! Time to go!"
"Goodbye, Sarada-chan! Break a leg!"
"Thanks! Bye!"
Itachi remained alone in the house once more.
Heh… I never talked very much but this girl… She makes you want to talk.
