"Aniki." Itachi says from behind Sakura, as if that will explain anything. Kakashi is still confused. The nod instead of flinch at the word from Sasuke is interesting though.
If it not for the dangerous criminal, it would seem like an almost cute scene; an older sibling being the protector of the younger ones. A family. But the dangerous criminal is there, and it just looks like some macabre perversion of one.
Kakashi does not want to listen to what they have to say about Obito. His cute little Genin should not be involved in whatever this is. He wonders how this has happened, but he does not hold anything against Sakura for standing in front of Itachi. The man is a master manipulator. After she somehow beat the genjutsu he probably resorted to tactics that were psychological and not jutsu based. Nobody ever really expects anything other than flashy moves from shinobi.
"Kakashi-taichou. Remember Wave?" Sakura interrupts his thoughts, and he nods. "When you asked me about what my mask was?" He nods again, slightly embarrassed; it is rude to ask after the masks when not wearing them.
She rolls up both sleeves, and she has no tattoo on either shoulder. While most would not be surprised at the lack of ANBU tattoo on a twelve year old, most have not seen her use the hand signals, nor the way that she is brutally efficient when she needs to be. He is about to ask her how she knows so much of its inner workings, when she speaks again.
"Weasel, Kakashi-taichou." She looks at him, determination and honesty in her eyes. "My name was Uchiha Itachi, before I was born a Haruno. I have known this long before I even knew the man I call my brother existed."
Well, there goes all of his theories.
.
Sakura watches as the crow is summoned again, and it goes through the same motions as before. It squawks and juts its head at her, then hops over hoping for a pat on the head. She obliges, and breaks some Pocky into crumbs in case it gets hungry.
.
"So. What you're saying is that Itachi tried to put Sasuke in an unbreakable genjutsu, the same one that he put me under, then she took it over and showed Itachi's real memories of what happened. And then broke it with a sharingan because she has Itachi's body in her mindscape." The collective audience nods. "And Itachi did not want to kill his clan, but did so to protect Konoha and his brother." Another nod.
"Anything else?"
.
Kakashi is joking. He does not want nor need an answer. He gets one anyways.
.
There is rustling from the bushes, and a man who resembles a shark more than a human comes into view. Behind him slinks a pale man with something a tiny bit more than the usual apathy in his yellow eyes. At least Kakashi can see the black stains of ink that are dealing his chakra away so, unless he has suddenly become a taijutsu master, he will not escape. Hopefully.
Kakashi's instincts say to try kill them, but the huge fish man has taken to standing beside Itachi who is standing behind Sakura, and for some reason Tsunade is blocking a straight chidori path to Orochimaru's heart. He notices that she is the only one who is not uneasy around him. Even Sakura shifts herself a bit to separate him from the two Uchiha that stand behind her.
"She gave me Pocky." The snake is on guard, that is obvious enough. Kakashi feels himself become less tense at those words. "Don't worry, I'm here more as part of a symbol than anything else. But I have agreed to not do anything too 'immoral', at Itachi's request." He gestures to Sakura, and she mumbles something about how her name is Sakura now.
Kakashi looks at his Genin and remembers his younger squad member, from the days when his name was Hound. He remembers how the kid was always, if not sad, melancholy. He pats her head, and sighs. "Sakura-chan. It's always you, isn't it?"
She smiles, small and honest. Her shoulders seeming so much thinner with the knowledge that he now has of her; much too small to bear the weight of two lives. But she has done it so far, and Kakashi knows that she can continue to do so. If she ever needs help, well he is her Jounin sensei.
.
Kisame watches as Kakashi, who had a normal reaction to Itachi's presence, nods. He doesn't look comfortable, not by a long shot -he actually looks sort of dazed-, but somehow the statement that has lead to him half-listening without attacking is the one about Pocky.
At least the Bloody Mist made some sort of violent sense.
.
"Listen! We have bigger things to take care of." Tsunade interrupts the awkward silence that erupts. Because she has had a very confusing few days and needs some alcohol. She would ask Shizune to get some for her, but the girl has disappeared somewhere.
She feels several sets of eyes descend when she says bigger. Raising a fist makes the eyes go back to her face. "Apparently there are several problems trying to destroy Konoha, whether they think so or not." She does not elaborate on whom she is speaking of when she says the last part. "I do not want to have to deal with that if I'm Hokage, so they take priority."
.
Sakura sees Kakashi give her a look that makes it very clear that they are going to have a talk about this later, and she nods. She knows that it is only fair; she just hopes that he believes her.
.
"Danzo?" The name is like a curse, and it has not been so bluntly stated so far. Kakashi knows that the man had a very skewed sense of righteousness, but to undermine the Hokage again and again is criminal; especially when half of the things that the man has done 'for Konoha' end up with even larger repercussions.
"Sometimes, when the plant is starting to rot, we need to cut away the diseased part. Even if they are the roots." Sakura's voice is cold.
.
Pakkun is summoned, and wants to be unsummoned as soon the smoke clears. A snake and a fish, along with two crows are what greet his nose. There are others too, but they do not register as threats to him.
Three missing-nin, all S-rank, and a little girl are the ones with the scents that throw him off. He growls, wondering why the hell the rest of the pack is not being summoned, because surely Kakashi doesn't think he can handle these people with just him. He is confused when Kakashi motions for him to stand down.
"Pakkun, I need your help with keeping everyone in check." The crow-girl moves closer and he tenses, ready to bite if necessary. She smells like one of the more dangerous men in a group of dangerous men. Kakashi does not seem to mind her though. "We're going to be guarding this place."
"Yeah. We." The dog mumbles. This is gonna be a long night.
.
It is almost surreal to be back in her home after all that has happened in the past few weeks. Sakura is greeted with a hug from her mother, and it is one that she leans into. Her father claps her on the shoulder, and the lines around his eyes crinkle in a smile. She loves her parents, she loves them so, so much.
.
She is trying to sleep, but is interrupted by a small knock on her window. Disabling the traps, she opens it to let the two people in. No words are said, and she lets them lie on the floor with her; the bed is not large enough to fit three people, and she will not leave them on the cold wood alone.
She reminds herself to thank Kakashi for letting them come later.
.
"Shisui…Forgive me." The voice is too soft for most to hear, and it is not what wakes Sasuke up. The coughs are the what breaks his sleep. He hears shuffling, and muffled noises of sickness and sorrow.
"Otouto…" Another muffled noise. "He does not blame you, Itachi. He loves you, and so do Tou-san and Kaa-san. I met them, after I died. We all love you so much."
Sasuke does not interrupt. This is something that he does not feel he should intrude upon.
ALSO:
"Shiz, we are INVISIBLE." The glasses that were embedded in the wall have found their way back to Kabuto's face, but it does no visible good. He is drunk, probably high from what those people in the bathroom were smoking, and feels invincible. "It's like superpowers. SHIZ, we have SUPERPOWERS."
Shizune, while impressed that they have managed to steal two sinks and a storage freezer from the bar without anybody noticing, does not appreciate the noise level that Kabuto has. "Kabuto, we don't wanna get caught!" She tries to put her finger to his lips to shush him, but they end up in his ear instead.
Shino is starting to wish he was the one drinking. But alas, that is the struggle of a preteen.