Chapter 21

A week came and went. On one bight and sunny morning Naruto, surprisingly, knocked on their door. He explained that Sasuke was healing in Konoha after his battle with Danzo. "Sasuke explained what Danzo had to do with the annihilation of Uchiha Clan for all the Kages to hear. We were able to stop Sasuke from killing Danzo at the last minute and he is no longer Hokage and is in our custody. When Sasuke woke up yesterday he told me specifically to find you and with you I'd find his brother."

Naruto looked past Saya and at the man beside her. "He wants you to come back to Konoha. The new Hokage, Kakashi-Sensei, welcomes you. He gives his word that you will not be arrested or harmed."

So they packed up, and left for the Leaf Village, with Tenshi in Saya's arms.

The second they walked past the village gates all eyes were upon the ex-missing ninja, before moving to the woman beside him. The villages projected no hostility or hatred, just shock that Itachi was still alive and even more when the people Saya knew realized that her lover was Itachi.

When they arrived at the Hokage's office, Sasuke was there, all bandaged up but looking well. A man with spiky white hair and three quarters of his face covered, which the two lovers knew was Hatake Kakashi, Copy-Cat Ninja, stood before them. "As Hokage of Konohagakure, you have my deepest apologizes for everything we have done to you, Uchiha Itachi. And also my sincere gratitude for what you've sacrificed for this village. I welcome you and your family to live in Konoha as Shinobi. The Uchiha Compound is now yours and Sasuke's. Please, the Leaf Village is your home."

"Wow, this was where you two grew up?" Saya asked in awe.

"Yeah…" Itachi replied somewhat distant. She looked to him and noticed the pained look in his eyes. Understanding dawned on her, and her heart reached out for him. She walked up to him and reached for his hand, locking their fingers together. He turned to her, and she gave him a small smile. Itachi nodded his thanks before returning to stare at where he once lived years ago.

"We don't have to go in if you don't want to." Saya said quietly.

He shook his head once, "No, I need to go."

"Do you want us to wait out here?"

"I…" Itachi paused, looking to her then back at the compound, "Yes… please."

"Okay." She released his hand but he held on. He turned back to her with a look in his eyes that told her just how scared he was to return to his past. "It'll be okay," She soothed. She leaned in, cupped the side of his face and gave him a gentle kiss. "Tenshi and I will be right out here."

"I'll try to be quick." He planted a kiss on her lips and gave her hand one last squeeze before releasing her. He turned and walked down the dirt path into the Uchiha Compound.

"I can't say I'm surprised to see you here." A low voice said from behind him.

Itachi didn't say anything, just continued to stare at the spot where he had killed their parents. The memory of that moment replayed through his head. He just wanted to collapse onto the ground and drown in his guilt. Now, more than ever, he wished Saya was beside him.

"I'm sorry for everything I put you through."

Sasuke paused, having not expected his older brother to say that, "It wasn't you fault."

"Yet at the same time it was…" Itachi's back remained facing Sasuke as he spoke, his head bowed, "I am sorry, little brother, for all the pain I inflicted on you."

"I've already forgiven you, Itachi." Sasuke suddenly felt very uncomfortable as he was not use to expressing his emotions. "I'm just glad that I have my brother back."

the elder Uchiha nodded, "I hope your revenge has come to an end."

"…Yes, it has…" Sasuke responded, knowing Itachi was talking about his anger towards the whole village.

Itachi chuckled. "Good. Come here, Sasuke."

Curious, Sasuke took the necessary steps to reach his brother, as he did so, Itachi turned to him. Even though Sasuke could have stopped the action, he allowed his older brother to poke him in the forehead. A smile came to both the Uchiha's lips.

"Thanks." Itachi said.

"No problem… Nii-san."

"So? What do you guys think?" Saya asked when they returned. "Are we going to live in the Uchiha Compound?"

Itachi came up to her and wrapped an arm around her waist, holding both her and Tenshi close. "It's up to you."

"I don't mind. I know that this place doesn't hold the best of your memories."

"I'll be okay." He kissed her lightly on the lips. "I think we should move here."

Saya smiled. "We'd better start packing then."

It only took them a week to get completely settled in, with the help of Naruto, and Sasuke's old companions. They chose to live in the main and largest house in the center of the Uchiha Compound. Itachi informed her it was where the leaders and other high status shinobi of the clan once lived.

There new home was amazing. From an indoor and outdoor training room, to a large garden with a pond in the back of the house, it was an amazing home. Although Saya was disappointed that all of Itachi's hard work on their other home went to waste and that he would have to do everything over again, she let him assure her that it had been, and was, no big deal.

And with all the help they received, she guessed he was right. The walls had more color than the other house, and the rooms were much larger. She wondered idly if Itachi wished to fill all the rooms in the mansion with their children. Saya would sometimes find herself lost in the maze of hallways whenever she ventured by herself. But, Itachi wasn't too far behind her, having immediately notice her absent. He would smirk at her when he found her, never getting tired of the pout on her lips when he did.

With such a huge home, they had to hire cleaning ladies to help, around the house, since both Itachi and Sasuke doubted Saya could do it by herself, especially with her horrible sense of direction.

Itachi and Saya became familiar with the village. And soon people stopped staring at them whenever they walked down the street hand-in-hand. At least, that's what she hoped would happen in the near future… For now though, they ignored all the unwanted attention. At the same time, there weren't as many people on the streets during the night.

Itachi, Saya, Sasuke, and Tenshi were returning home after their dinner one night when Saya glanced over at the two Uchihas, noting that the wall that had once been between them was gone. They really seemed like two regular brothers…

"Tenshi, don't go too far." Saya called when her eyes returned to her son. Ever since Tenshi had learned how to walk, he'd been talking full advantage of it. She sighed when the boy didn't stop. "Tenshi…" She jogged up to the wandering toddler. A stir in the air caught her attention. In a flash, Tenshi was in her arms and she was a feet away from where she last stood. Itachi and Sasuke were surrounding her the next second, Sharingan activated, scanning the shadows for… something.

"What do you think it is?" Saya asked, trying the calm their frightened son.

"I'm not sure." Sasuke replied. He glanced down at the boy in her arms, whose eyes were glistening with tears as he stared up at him. "But it's not safe with Tenshi here."

"I know…" She answered quietly as she stared down at bright innocent eyes. "What's the plan?"

"To get you and Tenshi home as soon as possible." Itachi replied this time. He performed a series of hand signs and with a poof there were two Itachis. "I'm going to take Saya and Tenshi home and watch over them there until you and my clone return home." He directed to Sasuke, "And I need you to-"

"-Scout the area and make sure it was just the wind. I got it." Sasuke nodded. "I'll be at the house as soon possible." Then both he and the clone were gone.

"Shouldn't we inform someone or something?"

"No. My main priority is getting you two home first, and make sure you're safe."

"Alright, shall we then?"

Itachi nodded and they both shot off in a sprit. As Saya did her best not to rock Tenshi too much, Itachi kept an eye on their surroundings. The next thing she knew, Itachi tackled her to the side – gently of course – just as a paper bomb went off in their pathway. He turned in mid-air so he took the impact when they landed. Saya crawled off of Itachi, allowing him to get up, and checked on Tenshi, fearing for his life.

Tenshi stared up at her, his eyes wide with curiosity and questions, but otherwise unharmed. Saya couldn't help but sigh in relief, "Thank God."

"Can you protect yourself?" Itachi asked from beside her, after seeing that their son is okay.

She couldn't help but scoff, "Just because I had a child doesn't mean I'm defenseless."

Itachi smirked. He placed a kiss on her cheek, which recieved a teasing, "Is now really the time?" in return, before standing up and facing whoever was in the shadows. He was gone the next second and she heared the sound of kunais soaring through the air and clashing together.

Saya concentrateed on her own issues at hand. She summoned her four elemental wolfs – fire, water, earth, and wind. And with a flick of her wrist, she sent all but Kazokami to aid Itachi. The large white wolf circled around them, its ears perked and eyes alert.

"Everything is going to be okay, Tenshi."

Itachi snatched a kunai that was sent at him and sent it back to the masked shinobi. Having no weapons of his own, it was the only offence attack he could use while he charged closer. The attacker sent one last kunai at him, this one attached with paper bomb. It lodged into the truck of a tree behind him and Itachi cursed before spiriting.

In a blink of the eye, he was on the back of Saya's fire-elemental wolf, escaping the blast from the explosion. Two other wolves flanked him, both of which he suspected were Saya's. With the speed the wolves were going, they were able to catch up to the fleeing man. Itachi's hands go for the katana that wasn't with him, and he let out a frustrated noise.

I mean really, who would expect to be attacked in a well-known Shinobi Village?

He tsked and told the fire wolf to intercept the man. It let out a bark to its companions and they ran faster, leaving Itachi behind. Together, the earth and water-elemental wolf pass the attacker before cutting in front of him, efficiently stopping him in his tracks. Itachi came up behind them, trapping the assailant. He saw the man's head lift up to the trees, probably contemplating an escape route. "Do so, and I won't hesitate to let the wolves have you." Itachi responded. The said wolves growled in agreement.

The masked man was smart enough to not make a move.

"Tell me why you attacked us." Itachi's sharingan eyes narrowed.

He held up his hands and as slowly as possible removed his masked. He looked to Itachi with wide, frightened eyes. "T-They made me!"

The three tomoes of the Uchiha's eyes started to swirl.

"No! It's true! They said all I had to do was get you away from that woman by any means necessary-" Itachi heart skipped a beat and in a flash he had the man knocked out cold with a blow to the back of his neck. He grabbed the man by the shirt and tossed him over the earth wolf. "We have to get back to Saya!" He commanded.

The water wolf scoped him up off his feet and charged in the direction they had come from. The closer they got out of the coverage of the trees, the louder the sound of metal clashing against metal could be heard.

When he reached the streets, he was relieved to see Konoha Shinobi engaged in battle against the cloaked strangers. His eyes scanned the area for Saya and he found her towards the very back, away from the fighting and guarded by Naruto. The wolves dodged and weaved through the bodies of people, taking him to her.

Saya spotted them and a smile broke out on her face. Itachi hopped off of his ride and nodded to Naruto when he passed by. He knelt down next to his love, greeting her with a kiss. "When did reinforcements arrive?"

"Just a minute ago."

"Are you okay?" His eyes creased with worry. He cupped her face in his hands, looking her over.

"Yes," She sighed, checking on their sleeping child, "Kazokami made sure they didn't get anywhere near us. I sent him to help Sasuke."

"Okay, we should take you home-"

"GET DOWN!"

Reflex kicking in; Itachi lunged for Saya, pulling her down beneath him as gently as he could. He looked over his shoulder to see the wall of Shadow Clones surrounding them poof away, leaving the real Naruto standing in front of them with the three wolves by his side. "You guys okay?" He asked over his shoulder.

Itachi nodded to the blonde before helping Saya up. The sound of crying reached his ears, "Is Tenshi hurt?"

"No, just slightly startled."

Itachi released the breath he had been holding. To Naruto he asked, "What happened?"

"The intruders took off, using an explosion for a distraction. The rest of the squad followed them."

"Alright… As I was saying, we should get home and let the others take care of this."

"Wait, what about Sasuke?"

"Right here." The younger Uchiha appeared, walking towards them from down the street.

"Took you long enough." Naruto joked.

"Well, we found a couple of Ninjas but they just suddenly took off, so I came back here."

"They probably retreated with the rest of their group." Itachi commented, his attention focused solely on Saya.

"Wait… came back here? We decided to meet up at the house. And where's Kazokami?"

Realization descended on all of them, but the imposter was the first to act. He threw a handful paper bomb kunais at Saya and Itachi's feet.

Itachi pulled Saya into his arms and shot off in the other direction. The bombs went off and he felt the forced of the explosion slam into him before his back connected with the ground as he tried to take the impact of the landing. A sharp pain went through his skull as his head also connected with the solid ground…

His eyesight went blurry, and the last thing he saw was Saya looming over him with a worried look on her face.

"Itachi! Itachi…!"