Konoha-Suna Union High School

AU: Itachi-OC and Sasori-OC

Chapter 12: The Future's Uncertainties

With just one more month until graduation, it was now so close they could almost taste it. Soon they would leave school forever and be done with it. All that was left was to put the final touches on their senior projects so they would be ready for presentation day, and then finish up their classes.

Everyone was very busy lately with their projects, schoolwork, job searching, paid missions, living plans, after school activities, friends, and relationships on top of home life. Friends and relationships were currently taking a back seat on the list of priorities for most people. As long as they were able to eat lunch together at school, it was fine with everything else going on, since this busy time was only temporary.

"You know something I noticed recently?" Raven started as she and Suki walked to their usual lunch spot where the guys would be.

"What?" Suki asked.

"Sasori always visits my place when I plan on making something good for dinner," Raven said. "It's happened so often that now he thinks I always cook and make good meals for myself, when in reality I'm eating instant noodles more often then I actually cook just because of the expense."

"You know what? Itachi comes over every time I bake too," Suki said thinking. "Whenever I make cookies, cupcakes, pie or anything else, I get a knock at my door and there's Itachi, and now he thinks I bake all the time because I always have freshly baked goodies when he drops by."

Both the girls laughed as they thought about it. "They must have some sort of mental radar telling them when we're making something good and that they should come over," Raven chuckled.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Suki laughed.

Meanwhile, Itachi was talking to his friends as they waited for their girls to arrive. "Of course, I want to take out Suki again, but we're still hiding that we are seeing each other, so it's not like we get any time alone together either," Itachi explained.

"What about a group date? Would that look suspicious?" Kisame suggested. "You and Sasori could take your girls out together and it could look like just any other outing," he added.

"Would probably still look suspicious if my father knew she would be there in general, but at this point I should at least do something date-like with her, because I can tell she's not exactly happy with what we're having to do. I'm not either," Itachi said.

"Well now that senior projects are all but done, we have the time to do something like that," Sasori said. "I just have to talk to Raven, but since she's Suki's best friend and all, I'm sure they'd be up for it."

"Up for what?" Suki asked as the girls stepped up and caught part of what Sasori said.

Itachi quickly turned to face her. "We were considering taking you girls on a double date," Itachi said and Sasori nodded. Sasori didn't actually care, but he figured this plan could actually help him gain more points with Raven, so he was going along with it. He was much more comfortable with a night in than a night out.

"That sounds like fun, do you think it'll be okay?" Suki asked referring their situation.

Itachi merely shrugged before responding. "It'll be fine," he said, not wanting her to worry about it.

"Presentations are tomorrow morning, how about we go out tomorrow night?" Sasori suggested.

Raven nodded in response, she could guess why this was coming up all of a sudden. But a part of her did admit to herself that it sounded pleasant.

"Sure, works for me," Suki smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, that should work," Itachi said and looked at both of the girls. "Sasori and I will work out the details, so tomorrow after presentations we'll let you know what the plan is and you'll have time to get ready for that," he said.

"Sure thing," Suki smiled, already excited for it. It was nice to have something like that to look forward to after the stressful presentation.

By late afternoon the very next day, senior projects were officially over and the grades being processed, and it was time to get ready for their outing. Seems Itachi and Sasori decided on a modest yet still classy restaurant. Just not too fancy, but still nice enough to have to dress better for. The guys wore plain button down shirts with their usual black pants. Sasori's shirt was a very dark maroon color with a little scorpion on the collar and Itachi's shirt was black with the Uchiha insignia on the back. Suki wore a knee length purple dress with a white sweater that she left unbuttoned along with a pretty necklace and her hair done up in a high ponytail with a loose lock hanging freely on each side of her face. Raven wore black pants and a dark red Chinese style top and had her hair in an interesting bun with patterned chopsticks.

As they walked towards the restaurant, the guys told them about why they chose that location. The reason simply being that the fried shrimp was being promoted at a low price for a short time. Itachi had offered his arm to Suki when they had begun walking, and for some reason Sasori felt the need to do the same to Raven just because Itachi was doing it.

"What else do they serve?" Suki asked, clearly not interested in the shrimp.

"The menu is fairly complete with a wide range of Asian food," Itachi explained. "Feel free to get anything you like, it's on me," he added with a charming smile.

"Hmm, guess I'll just have to wait and see what's on the menu," Suki said with her finger to her lips as she thought about what she might like to get.

"Do you know how much they serve, like is it a lot?" Raven asked, worried about the portions sizes, she doesnt like it when given a ton of food that she can't finish in one sitting.

"They're pretty normal actually," Sasori said. "One of the reasons we chose to take you there, that way we'll have room for dessert," he nodded and Raven laughed softly.

When they got to the restaurant, Sasori opened the door for them and let them enter first. Itachi noticed this and thought he should be even more polite so he can impress Suki by being the better date. With that in mind, he sped ahead to the next door inside and opened it for them.

As Sasori was about to step through he stopped and pinned Itachi with a stare. Sasori could see what Itachi was up to, and he didn't want to be upstaged or outdone either. That meant it was on and a silent competition had started between them to decide who was the better date.

"Guys?" Raven said to get their attention.

"Let's go, they have a table ready," Suki said and the guys quickly returned their attentions to their dates.

The guys raced to see who could pull out the chair for their date faster, only to tie and the girls looked at them weird before thanking them and taking their seats.

"I like what you did with your hair today," Itachi complimented Suki with a charming and polite smile.

"Thanks," Suki smiled before picking up her menu and began scanning the contents.

Raven was already looking at the menu and wasn't paying much attention, but Sasori had glared at the Uchiha who smirked arrogantly in return for beating Sasori to the charming compliment line. They can't just copy each other all night, or else the girls would notice, so Sasori would have to think harder to beat Itachi. Until he could think of something, he too looked at his menu and tried to decide what he was going to get before the order would be taken.

They got their drinks and ordered their food when Sasori thought of something. As soon as Raven's hand came up to moved her napkin closer to herself, he put his hand on top of hers, getting her attention and making her look at him. He leaned in close so he could whisper in her ear. "That top is very flattering, I love it when you wear red, too bad we're not alone right now," he whispered lowly.

Raven instantly blushed and turned away. "Oh stop," she said while trying to hide a shy smile. Sasori leaned back to his chair with his own arrogant smirk, silently challenging Itachi to beat that.

Itachi knew what his next move would be, he just had to wait for when the food served. When it came he used the classic simple move of offering Suki to try something from his own plate. When she agreed, he fed it to her himself, making her blush as they finished.

Sasori rolled his eyes at the other couple. He still wasn't fond of public displays and that was just cheesy.

The rest of the meal proceeded normally with them chatting about various things and enjoying themselves. They even got dessert without any competitions. Then the check came.

Both Itachi and Sasori put their hand on it at the same time and then glared at each other. To them, whoever paid the bill won and was automatically more manly and the better date.

The girls noticed right away that both the guys wanted to take care of the check. "Neither one of you have to take care of it," Raven said.

"Yeah, we can just pay for ourselves," Suki added.

"No!" Itachi and Sasori nearly shouted at the same time and then continued their stare down over the check.

They both saw that neither was letting up so they would have to come to some sort of an agreement. "Look, how about we split it?" Sasori said.

"I'll take care of me and my date," Itachi said.

"And I'll pay for ours," Sasori nodded.

Both girls sighed as the truce was made since they were worried that they might end up battling right there. The guys even split the tip evenly so the girls didn't have to pay at all. It was a nice change since it seemed like they cook and bake for them all the time.

"That was really good," Suki said as the left.

"It was," Raven agreed.

"Sorry to cut things short, but I've got to go somewhere and it's not in the direction of your place," Itachi said.

"Same here, so we'll have to say goodbye now instead of walking you home," Sasori said.

"Alright, be safe," Suki said as she gave Itachi a quick hug and a kiss.

Sasori had simply hugged Raven and was about to part when he saw the other couple kissing, so he tried to do the same, but Raven turned away bashfully. Even though neither liked public displays, he didn't like being denied either and his need to win this unofficial competition of his seemed important enough to put aside that dislike. It appeared that she didn't feel the same, but while he understood that she doesn't know about the competition of who is a better date and ultimately a better boyfriend, it still hurt to be denied like that.

Frowning, Sasori stepped away. "See ya," he said simply and leapt off into the darkness. Itachi followed suit after his own quick farewell.

The guys hadn't had any other plans other than dinner until after the presentations earlier that day. They were simply asked to go somewhere as soon as their date ended that evening, and no later. Arriving at the same place, an old shut down small business building that used to be a used book store, they were met by a familiar face appearing out of the shadows.

"You arrived earlier than I expected," Pain greeted both of them.

"You said it was important," Sasori said. He hates to keep people waiting after all.

Pain nodded and turned towards the building. "It is, please come inside, the others just arrived," he said.

They went inside to find the complete Akatsuki sitting around in a dimly lit space. Itachi and Sasori could tell how serious this meeting was going to be and they both took their rings from their pockets and placed them on their fingers. Itachi placed his red "vermilion" ring on his right ring finger and Sasori placed his purple "jewel" ring on his left thumb.

"You are probably wondering why I suddenly asked everyone here," Pain started. "This concerns the outcome of the Akatsuki. As you know, many of us are graduating this year, and because of that we are going to have an actual base of operations. Here."

"What's 'here'?" Deidara asked while looking around the dark room.

"Konan's new nail salon," Pain answered.

"Eh?" Everyone else said in question.

"Konan is going to run a nail salon and we will use the back room and the basement as our base," Pain explained. "No one will suspect such a place as being the front for an underground organization that tries to maintain peace from the shadows."

The others nodded in understanding and looked to each other for any other comments.

"One more thing," Pain started. "You are all expected to give your business to Konan's shop so we stay in business," he added.

Everyone dropped their heads, they were not looking forward to having to get their nails done all the time just so they can keep this place as a base. That meant that they were going to have to pay. That, or advertise the shop to others until enough money would come in.

"Anything else?" Hidan asked.

"Yes, I want each of you, besides Itachi and Sasori, to keep an eye on Raven and Suki for awhile and monitor their practical skills," Pain said. "I want them to join us if they prove worthy."

The others nodded, but Itachi and Sasori didn't move. They were aware why they were asked not to participate, they would surely have basis in any observation.

"Can I ask why?" Deidara said. "I mean, aren't there enough members?"

Pain nodded in understanding. "Peace doesn't last, there will be an uproar and I believe that they might be of use to this organization, and they already know so much about us through dating a couple of our members," Pain's eyes settles on the red-head and the Uchiha for a moment. "I have made no final decision, that is why I want more information."

As the meeting came to a close and there were no other questions, Kisame volunteered to watch the girls the next day and Hidan volunteered to watch them Monday morning on their way to school.

Kisame was to shadow them if they left their apartments. It ended up being a very boring day for him since not much happened and each of the girls only left their apartments once. He followed Raven towards and from the grocery store and lost sight of her multiple times because she felt like she was being watched and applied evasive maneuvers. The only reason he was able to find her again was because he knew where she was going. Then he followed Suki to and from the bank, which ended up being somewhat difficult because there wasn't much to hide behind and she kept looking around as she sensed his presence.

The morning after that, Hidan had a much more eventful experience. He had gotten up and ready early that morning so he could find where Raven and Suki lived based on the information he was given and then shadow them on their way to school.

Less than halfway to school, Hidan saw a familiar face approach the girls. Kabuto, none other than that slime Orochimaru's right hand man and new leader of Sound since the boss got put behind bars. Not able to hear what was being said, Hidan moved closer.

"So you seem to know who we are, who are you?" Raven inquired dryly. Both she and Suki felt like they knew him from somewhere, but couldn't place his face.

Kabuto smirked and pushed up his glasses. "Who I am is of no concern to you, but do you know who you have been hanging out with?" he asked.

Raven glared and Suki raised an eyebrow. "I'm hanging out with Raven," Suki said obviously.

Kabuto chuckled. "I meant the people you date and their… 'friends' I guess I'll call them," he said.

"You mean the Akatsuki?" Suki asked and Kabuto's face went serious. It was obvious he thought that the girls were still in the dark about it and was hoping to shake them mentally by giving such information himself.

"…Yes," he stated seriously. "Then I should tell you, no, show you the consequences of being affiliated with such people," he said and then snapped his fingers.

Hidan's eyes widened as kunai flew at the girls from all directions. Kabuto planned on attacking all along and was just trying to distract them. Luckily there wasn't any paper bombs attached and all of the kunai knives simply hit the ground as the girls evaded the ambush attack.

Hidan was about to jump out and attack Kabuto, but reminded himself to wait another minute and see what they do. No matter what happened, he was going to report this event back to Pain.

Three black dressed and masked ninja jumped out and joined Kabuto. Seeing that this was going to a dirty fight, the girls dropped their book bags on the ground and prepared to fight.

The masked ninja sped at them with kunai. Raven immediately threw three finger darts and hit the one that was coming at her, making him instantly fall as a heavy sedative poured into him from the darts. Suki also threw a handful of senbons laced with a powerful hallucinogen, making the masked ninja coming straight at her quickly go weak and then become confused before falling to the ground in a dizzy heap.

Both girls looked at each other and then around them to search for the last masked ninja that was just there a moment ago. Both looked up and found him in the air forming a jutsu. Suki quickly pulled out her kunai and prepared to defend while Raven hurriedly formed her own jutsu, quickly making hand signs that she knew very well. With a stern glare directed at their foe, Raven quickly made the last hand sign of the short sequence, beat him in completing a jutsu and put him in genjutsu. From the masked ninja's point of view, the girls suddenly disappears so he landed on the ground and searched for them before finding them trying to flee a short distance away so he ran after what he thought he saw.

Kabuto stood wide eyed with an angry look and pulled out surgical blades like he was going to fight.

"Once more," Raven started.

"Who are you?" Suki demanded.

"Humph, I will be your end," Kabuto said and stepped forward once before suddenly halting as Hidan jumped out in front of him. "You!" Kabuto said shocked.

"You come around here again and I'll fuck you with my scythe, and trust me when I say you won't live after it's shoved up your ass, understand?" Hidan said and Kabuto just glared. "I mean it, get the fuck outta here!" Hidan added and thrust his scythe at him threateningly. Before jumping out to help, he used a summoning scroll to get his scythe. While he thought the girls might be able to handle Kabuto if they're lucky, he wasn't going to risk being the one responsible if he let them die by Sound hands.

Kabuto looked around, weighing his options. Once again he was greatly outnumbered, and he wasn't going to risk being outclassed either. "Humph," he grunted and put his hands together in a symbol. "You win this time," he said before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Damn annoying motherfucker," Hidan cursed as he rested his scythe against his shoulder. He spat on the ground where Kabuto had been standing before turning to the girls who were already putting their book bags back on. "That Kabuto is always trying to give us a hard time, you weren't supposed to be involved," he added and noticed when both girls shared a glance at the mention of Kabuto's name. "You okay?" he asked casually.

"Fine," Raven said.

"Yeah, and we've met him before anyway," Suki said. "I thought it might be him after he took out those weird surgical knives of his, but the name confirms it."

"W-what?" Hidan raised an eyebrow and followed them as they walked towards school again.

"Yeah, he actually went to our middle school for a little while, he was a medical type," Raven explained. Hidan just nodded as he processed that information.

That night, Pain made it official with the Akatsuki. The girls were going to be a part of the Akatsuki after graduation. For now, he would have Itachi and Sasori tell them about it and find out if they'll agree to it. Pain also wanted to make sure that those couples planned to stay together after graduation. So far it was looking good, but after graduation is when it would count. He could use Raven's skills in long distance projectile weapons and interrogation. Pain also believed that Suki could relay information to the Akatsuki from the classified information office. Both skills seemed like they could be useful for the unknown future.

Most of all, Raven and Suki were already associated with the Akatsuki, not just because they were dating members, but because of what Hidan had witnessed with Kabuto, so now they were involved in the Akatsuki's battles. If they are going to be fighting for the Akatsuki, they might as well know what they're up against and what they are fighting for.

Other than having another meeting at the nail salon "base" and finding out that Pain wants the girls to join the Akatsuki, Itachi didn't have to do anything else after school so he simply went home. Since senior projects were over and he was almost done with high school, he could feel the stress being lifted from his shoulders.

As soon as Itachi stepped through the door, he saw his father waiting for him with a stern expression and his arms folded over his chest. "Something wrong, Father?" Itachi asked.

"Is meeting with people you shouldn't behind my back a new hobby of yours, Itachi?" Fugaku questioned harshly.

Itachi's eyes widened a fraction as his father's words hit him. He knew that he would have to tell his father that he was seeing Suki again sometime, but it appeared that his father already found out.

"You've been up to no good," Fugaku accused.

"We haven't been doing anything," Itachi tried, though he felt that kind of information wasn't his father's business or concern. With that Itachi tried to leave the entryway so he could go to his room and start some homework.

"They're hooligans and up to no good!" Fugaku stopped him. "You are the heir to this clan, you cannot affiliate yourself with such people!"

Itachi realized that his father was not talking about Suki and his heart raced. This was much worse than he thought. His father found out about the Akatsuki. "They are not breaking the law, you know that as well as I do," Itachi said. Training to be in the family police force taught him that much.

Fugaku glared and Itachi knew that his father was at the end of the line on patents and restraint, one more comment like that and Itachi's face will meet the back of his father's hand. When it seemed like his father had nothing else to say, Itachi started to walk away again.

"Have you thought about the image you're portraying to Sasuke?" Fugaku stopped him again.

"What does Sasuke have to do wi-?" Itachi's words died on his lips as he saw Sasuke enter from outside. Itachi instantly noticed that Sasuke had been training very hard. His hair disheveled more than usual, white shorts turned gray and brown with green grass stains, and several small tears in his shirt and arm covers. There didn't appear to be any bruising, but his hands were scrapped and worn raw. Itachi recognized such a workout and was all too familiar with its intensity.

Sasuke moved slowly as he bent down to remove his shoes and he stumbled on the step of the entryway. Itachi rushed to Sasuke to help him back up. Sasuke looked up with tired, foggy eyes, and just noticed his father and brother.

Itachi watched and then turned a vicious, angry glare at his father. He knew exactly what was happening to Sasuke. The same thing had happened to himself.

Their father was overworking Sasuke just like he had done with Itachi. That meant it was only a matter of time before Sasuke's fate followed Itachi's and he also begins to go blind and gets chakra poisoning and then have to spend a lot of time in the hospital.

"You… you question how I appear to Sasuke? What I make him think?" Itachi started lowly. "I can't believe you would actually make the same mistake twice."

Fugaku dropped his arms to his sides and stepped closer to the brothers. "It was never a mistake, you simply failed," he stated.

"I 'failed'?" Itachi said angrily. "I survived! And if you keep this up, he might not be so lucky! Just look at him!"

"I'm fine," Sasuke interjected and Itachi turned to look at him again. "I misjudged the distance of the step and I'm tired, you don't have to worry about it."

Itachi ignored Sasuke's words as he examined his brother's eyes closely. It only confirmed his suspicions. He knew Sasuke would be fine by morning, but if he continued this, there would be dangerous results. Thinking about this made Itachi's anger begin to boil over. Sure, he could deal with his overbearing father, but once Sasuke was involved, that is where he drew the line.

"Sasuke," Fugaku started and Sasuke looked up at him. "You need to work harder, Itachi was at a much higher level by the time he was your age, you are lagging behind," he said.

That was it, Itachi's line was drawn, and he stood straight again, letting go of his little brother. "Don't you know what you're doing? If the fact you did it to me wasn't bad enough, you think it'll be any better with Sasuke?" Itachi raised his voice.

"Don't you dare talk back to me!" Fugaku yelled back.

Fugaku and Itachi continued to argue over Sasuke. Sasuke was so tired, he was barely aware of what was happening and simply dropped his forehead into his hand as he struggled to stay awake.

It was only another long minute before Mikoto came in wondering what all the yelling was about. She had stopped in the doorway, her hand coming over her mouth to keep from making a sound. Mikoto knew that whatever was happening, it was Itachi's last straw. How she wished things could have been different.

"As long as you live under my roof, you must obey me!" Fugaku said activating his Sharingan in anger. Even Mikoto knew that was the wrong thing to say.

Itachi activated his own Sharingan in turn. "Then I can take Sasuke and leave!" Itachi threatened.

"You WILL NOT drag him down with you!" Fugaku ordered. "I will not have another son be a part of a ruthless gang and focusing on some woman instead of his future!" Fugaku added and Itachi glared with clenched fists. "That's right… I know you've been seeing you're little whore again too."

Itachi finally snapped and punched his father in the face, throwing him to the side from the force of the blow. Everyone was shocked, even Itachi. The moment of tense silence after lasted a small eternity.

Fukagu rubbed the quickly forming bruise on the side of his face and glared up at Itachi. "You will pay for that…" he growled.

"I've paid more than enough in advance," Itachi said bitterly. "I'm leaving," he said to his father. He looked at his mother quickly and bowed his head apologetically, knowing this was going to hurt her. Then he leaned down and picked up Sasuke on his back so he could carry him. Sasuke didn't move or protest, he was still too out of it.

With that, Itachi left with nothing but his book bag and Sasuke. He would come back later for some stuff. Fugaku was going to work that night, and knowing his father, he wouldn't miss it.

"Brother?" Sasuke muttered from Itachi's back when Itachi stepped onto the street.

"Yeah?"

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"We're going to Shisui's to get you patched up," Itachi said. "And I need to talk to him, okay?" he asked and he felt Sasuke nod against his shoulder. Finally not having to focus on the simple task of standing while surrounded by negative energy, Sasuke was finally able to relax and fell asleep in a familiar place. Even though Sasuke was heavier now, Itachi didn't think of it with all the adrenaline still rushing through his veins. He prayed that he didn't just make a horrible rash mistake. It would only be another minute until he reached Shisui's place, and he hoped that his mind would clear a bit before he got there.

Back home, Mikoto was devastated and angry at her husband for chasing off her precious boys. She tried to warn Fugaku, tried to encourage Itachi, and tried to be there for Sasuke. Right now she felt like such a failure as a mother.

Once Fugaku had stood a few seconds after Itachi closed the door behind him, he turned to his wife to say something, but was stopped by a rare vicious look from her.

"What have you done?" Mikoto asked quietly.

"It's for their own good," Fugaku defended.

"What have you done! They're both gone because of you!" Mikoto practically screamed at him before turning around so she wouldn't have to look at him as tears filled her eyes. "I'm not speaking to you until you fix this," she whispered vehemently and then left him in the entryway.

Fugaku lowered his head to one of his hands. No one seemed to understand. When he thought about it, he didn't seem to understand what he was trying to do in the first place anymore either.

Mikoto returned to her chores, hoping that after Fugaku left for work, Itachi and Sasuke would return. She would try to convince them to stay if they made their presence known. Somehow she already knew that all this was going to take a while to resolve.


A/N: Oh dear, the drama... but I think that's the last of the worst of it with one more chapter to go.

Hope you liked the double date at the beginning of this chapter. Then Raven and Suki got to beat up Kabuto's minions. And Itachi snapped once his precious little brother was involved. He's still going to have to get his nails done at Konan's new shop once it starts up...