Chapter TWENTY EIGHT
Sasuke watches Kimimaro point in a random direction and then follow Sakura as she scampers off in excitement.
"You seem to like them."
Sasuke turns to his brother and nods stiffly. "They are...not bad." Itachi smiles and Sasuke scowls. "Are you done?"
"I have not said anything." Itachi gestures towards the rest of his team. "Shall we start?"
Sasuke nods and follows his brother to the rest of his team. He settles himself comfortably on the ground and tells the gathered team of the past years he has spent with Orochimaru, then of his plans for the following half a year. He tells them of Kabuto and details on the experiments he had encountered during his time with the snake.
Itachi acknowledges his future plans and supplies him with a few sources on possible former hideout locations that Sasuke's stolen files may have left out.
"Disposal of any experiments are a priority." Itachi tells him. "Also, though I doubt you will find any, retrieve any data left."
Sasuke then tells them of Kimimaro and Sakura, of how the Kaguya is the last of his clan who has sworn loyalty to Sakura and how the pinkette is most likely a born result of Orochimaru's experiments.
He is unable to tell them about Sakura and the clan.
Not yet.
Sasuke fights himself over this throughout the rest of the day, but as he watches Sakura laugh at something Shisui had said and Itachi watching over them, he decides that they deserve to know.
"Nii-san, Shisui, can I talk to you?"
Kimimaro's eyes flare but he does not say anything. Shisui sighs dramatically and ruffles Sakura's hair before he follows Itachi over towards him. "Jeez, Sasuke-chan, I know you're jealous, but you don't have to pull me away like that."
Sasuke scoffs. "You wish."
Shisui smiles. "She is a very good girl. Is she really Orochimaru's daughter?"
Sasuke takes a deep breath. "I have more to share." He says. "But I need you to promise me, swear, that you will not react rashly."
Shisui gasps and turns to Itachi. "Is Sasuke-chan really tell us not to act rashly?" He asks, eyebrows raised. "The Sasuke-chan who is more rash than both of us combined?"
Itachi elbows him and Shisui laughs, but both of them calm down when Sasuke does not laugh, or even retort. "Sasuke-chan, are you okay?"
"What is it, otouto?"
"I...found out, about the massacre."
Both older Uchiha freeze. Shisui furrows his eyebrows dangerously and Itachi narrows his eyes. "Orochimaru played a part?" His brother asks.
Sasuke hesitates, then nods. "Yes. He ordered it."
"Do you know who it was?" Shisui demands loudly and Sasuke glares at him. A little away, just out of earshot, Sakura looks up curiously. Sasuke waves at her and Sakura grins and waves back before she turns back to something Kimimaro is saying.
"Was it the Kaguya?" Shisui asks, more quietly. "Or..."
Sasuke takes a deep breath. "It was Sakura."
There is a tense silence before Shisui begins to laugh. "No, no way." He says. "The massacre was years ago and Sakura-chan is Sasuke's age. She's just a girl-"
"Who happens to be Orochimaru's daughter." Itachi says curtly.
Shisui flinches and runs a hand through his hair. "How-how did you find out?"
"Orochimaru told me before I killed him." Sasuke says. "I don't...think he was lying."
"Does she know?" Shisui asks. "Does she know that she hugs a boy who's clan she killed off?"
Sasuke thinks back to Sakura's bright embraces, then her screams as Orochimaru tore through her body with a blade and a psychotic, gleeful smile on his face. Screams caused by pain and trauma strong enough to wipe out days worth of memories at a time.
"She doesn't." He says firmly. "Sakura is missing large parts of her memory. Orochimaru used to dissect her, without anesthetics from what I could see, and the trauma makes her lose her memories of the past few days. Who knows how long this has been going on for?"
Both older Uchiha are quiet for a while, and it is Shisui who breaks the silence. "So, what do we do?" He asks. " I mean, all three of us swore revenge on the murderer, years ago. Orochimaru is dead and Sakura-chan, Sakura-chan-"
"Does not knowing justify her actions?" Itachi asks softly.
Sasuke turns to his brother and shook his head. "I don't think so." He admits. "But I can't blame her because if I were to blame anything relatively her, I will have to blame her for being born as the snake's daughter and for not doing anything about her circumstances, which she couldn't help, because she didn't know any better." He let out a choked laugh. "Orochimaru was her world, can you imagine that? She's never been outside Oto or one of the snake's bases without someone accompanying her and even then, it was for missions. She didn't know what a piggyback was."
"Sasuke." Shisui's voice is sharp, more sharp than usual, and Sasuke jolts to a halt. He realizes that his breathing is getting faster and he loosens his fists. He hadn't even noticed he had clenched them.
"I know." Itachi tells him gently. "Orochimaru is at fault here. That much is clear."
Shisui watches Sasuke relaxes a little. He watches the younger nod, hesitate, then turn to walk back towards Sakura and Kimimaro.
"Sasuke-chan was the most adamant on revenge." He says softly. "Remember?"
Itachi does not say anything, but his eyes are fixed on his younger brother. Nothing shows on his face as he too watches Sakura fret over him before she points off into the distance. Sasuke says something that causes Sakura to grin and Kimimaro to scowl. "Yes." He finally says.
"What do you think?" Shisui asks. "About...about this...mess."
"I do not know." Itachi admits. "Both of us have always believed that the path of revenge was not something Sasuke could endure. It would have destroyed him. Still, I believe it is a little unsettling to see that he is so willing to put it aside after years of training for the sole purpose of avenging the clan."
"Do you think it's a good thing?"
"I honestly do not know."
So, it's been a while...yeah...
Darque: We got excuses, you see? Raven was in the hospital after collapsing from stress and I had mock exams the past week.
Raven: I am alive, yay.
Darque: And my exams are almost done too. Last one tomorrow, then I get the rest of the week, then the next, and the one after that off too, because I don't take a science, which is next week, and then we have Chinese New year.
Raven: Lucky you.
Darque: I know.
Raven:...So, how did you do in your exams?
Darque: I won't say. I don't want to stress you out even more.
Raven:...
Darque: :)
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