XI.
Iruka stared at him in shock. "But—you—Itachi-kun!" he protested. "You can't just leave!"
Itachi knew Iruka couldn't afford to undermine his authority by making a scene, so he quickly began to explain himself. "Things are running comparatively well by now," he pointed out. "Hana and Bai Feng are very capable, and all the volunteers know what they're supposed to be doing—honestly, it won't make much difference if I go. Besides," he added more quietly, "It does seem like my being here is somewhat of a point of contention."
"Well, there is that…" Iruka conceded. "It's decided then!" he continued, addressing the crowd. "Yakushi Kabuto and Uchiha Itachi will go to try and find out what happened and if there are any adults left. Does anyone else have anything to add? No? Then the meeting is adjourned."
…
After the meeting, Itachi decided that the first thing he should do was explain things to Sasuke—it would probably be best if his little brother heard it from him first, rather than someone else.
Sasuke was, as Itachi had expected, not very pleased. "You can't go, Aniki!" he shouted. "Mama and Papa are already gone and—and I—there won't be anyone left!"
"But I thought you wanted me to find our parents," Itachi pointed out.
"I didn't mean I wanted you go away," Sasuke retorted, crossing his arms sulkily.
"Sasuke—"
"Leave me alone!" Sasuke snapped, pushing past Itachi and running out the door of the Uchiha ward.
Itachi ran after him, but wasn't sure whether he should try to catch him or not—his lack of knowledge on how to handle children tripping him up again—so he hesitated long enough for Sasuke to make it all the way out of the hospital. Sighing, Itachi sat down on the front steps of the building. Sasuke would be all right by himself, and Itachi really did have to go, but he felt awful about leaving things like this.
"That didn't go too well, did it?" someone remarked from behind him.
Itachi groaned inwardly, before replying through gritted teeth. "No, Kabuto, it didn't. Do you happen to have any suggestions as to how I could have gone about it better?"
"Not really," Kabuto replied, not seeming to have noticed Itachi's harsh tone. "But we don't have to leave until tomorrow; I'm sure he'll come around by then."
Kabuto did seem to have a fair amount of experience with children, so maybe he was right. But because this was Kabuto, Itachi wasn't about to admit that, so he made a noncommittal noise before standing. "I'm going to pack for the trip," he said. "If Iruka needs me, tell him I'll be in the Uchiha compound."
Not waiting to hear whether Kabuto had anything more to say, Itachi bounded up to a nearby streetlamp before roof-hopping across the city.
…
It was harder than usual deciding what to pack in this situation—Itachi wasn't sure what he could count on to be available once he left the city. For all he knew, the next several towns might be completely looted or even burned down in an accidental fire. Nor was there a very definite timescale on how long they would be gone. If he and Kabuto were going all the way across the continent, they probably wouldn't return to Konoha for a couple of months or more.
There would probably be enough food for the taking that they wouldn't need to pack more than a week's supply or so, but Itachi made sure to pack a generous supply of water purification tablets. He decided not to take much money; there wasn't much point to it in this situation. He did, however, raid his uncle Kaito's pocket-knife collection for more than a dozen serviceable-looking specimens. If he needed to barter, the handy tools would be quite valuable. He tried to take the more easily replaceable ones, but that was difficult since he had never paid much attention when Kaito showed off the collection.
Packing clothes was easier, as Itachi's tastes were very simple and he would probably be wearing his ANBU uniform most of the time anyway. He did take a heavy coat and a rain poncho—they might come in handy and the infrastructure to buy them might not be available later.
After his backpack was full of clothes and gear (with some room left for the amount of food he estimated he would need to carry) Itachi rummaged around in his desk until he found last year's birthday present from his mother. His family and friends knew very well that Itachi liked practical things, so Mikoto had given him a pair of woven cuffs that could be unraveled to get several hundred feet of nigh-unbreakable cord. He had never had to use them, so they were still intact, and they would be much better than hauling a heavy rope around. They fit snugly when he put them on, and he could put his armguards over them, if necessary.
Later, he would have to discuss with Kabuto what food they would be taking, but for now Itachi decided he would head back towards the hospital and Academy and see if Sasuke felt more like talking to him yet. Tracing Sasuke's chakra was very easy and Itachi quickly located him in the Academy playground. He decided to judge his brother's mood before revealing himself, settling down on an overlooking roof to watch.
Sasuke was sitting forlornly on one of the swings, occasionally scuffing at the ground with the toe of his shoe but not making any real effort to get off the ground. Itachi was about to jump down and go to him when he noticed Naruto perched in a branch several feet above his brother. Sasuke hadn't noticed Naruto's presence yet, so Itachi decided to wait a little while and see what would happen. However, he did make sure he was ready to move at a moment's notice, considering Naruto's propensity for hurling himself off high places.
After another ten or fifteen seconds (Naruto was not a terribly patient child) Naruto slipped down to a nearer branch, dangling by his knees so that he and Sasuke were almost eye-to-eye. Sasuke was obviously taken by surprise, and nearly fell off the swing before recovering himself and sticking his tongue out at Naruto. Naruto reciprocated.
Itachi wasn't close enough to hear the conversation, and he didn't want to eavesdrop right now. What conversation there was didn't last long, anyway, and soon both boys were engaged in hurling leaves and dirt clods at each other. From the laughter Itachi could hear, it didn't seem like there was much animosity involved, so he didn't intervene.
It was ten minutes or more before Sasuke and Naruto tired of their game and sat down against opposite sides of the tree where they had started out. Itachi decided now would be as good a time as any to confront Sasuke again and jumped down from his roof.
Sasuke couldn't see him from this angle, but Naruto could and quickly stood up. "Hey, what are you—"
"I think it's about time you went back inside, Naruto," Itachi cut in firmly before the boy could finish his sentence.
Naruto looked doubtful, but hurried off when Itachi made an insistent shooing motion. There still hadn't been any movement or sound from the other side of the tree, and Itachi approached cautiously to look around the trunk. "Hello, Sasuke."
