A/N: Hey fellas. I've got most of today to myself, so I'll be writing. I would have uploaded last night, but I had to watch UFC 245. Priorities
Time for chapter 85
Enjoy!
Gaara rubbed his eyes as he entered Kron's hospital room. It was late, roughly a quarter after midnight, and he had been called to the hospital by a frantic Naruto. The chunin had insisted that the Kazekage rush to the hospital immediately, meaning that Gaara had had no time to change from his pajamas. Once he entered the room he had been summoned to, however, Naruto's insistence became understandable. Kron was sitting up in his bed with three black spikes protruding from his back. Chiyo was working to remove one of them, and it appeared that it would be a lengthy process.
"Explain what happened. Spare me no details" Gaara ordered the former Kumo ninja. Kron nodded and glanced up from his bedsheets.
"I got my ass handed to me. It was the same guy who whisked away the Raikage just as Itachi was about to kill him. He was in Suna to speak with you, actually, but he ended up putting that aside to start a fight with me" he explained. The redhead furrowed his eyebrows.
"Why on earth would he be here to speak with me?" he asked skeptically. Kron winced as the first spike was yanked from his back by Chiyo.
"He was probably here to kill you. He seemed more than prepared for a fight with you" he guessed as he grinded his teeth to cope with the searing pain in his back.
"Do you believe he would have succeeded" the Kazekage asked. The Miura boy began to speak, but suddenly broke out into a coughing fit, splattering blood on the floor.
"Hold still. Your wounds are worryingly deep, and any wrong movements could cause internal bleeding" Chiyo said as she worked to remove the second black rod.
"His name is Tobi, and he's more powerful than anybody we've encountered up to this point. Even Itachi was afraid to engage him. He beat me like a stole something. I hit him once, and it was kind of a sucker punch to begin with. You'd be six feet under right now if he hadn't decided to toy with me" Kron said once he had recovered. Gaara nodded stiffly.
"On the bright side, I was able to get some information out of him. Nothing we didn't already have a good guess about, but confirmation is still valuable" the Miura boy said semi-optimistically. The redhead perked up at this.
"What did you manage to find out?" he asked curiously. Kron sighed in relief as the final black rod was removed from his back, allowing him to breathe properly again.
"Turns out that he's been pulling strings in Kumo for years. He was the one who coaxed the Raikage into calling for Human Experimentation. He also killed several members of the council to ensure the testing was carried out. He and the Raikage are associated with one another, which, by extension, means that Kumo is allied with the Akatsuki" he explained. Gaara scowled at the information.
"If this man is as powerful as you say, and he is in fact associated with Kumogakure, this war just became much more difficult to win. We must reconsider our approach" he said. Kron then sat up and threw his legs over the side of the bed.
"Also, I found out something interesting about Tobi. He's an Uchiha, or at least, I think he is" he said, recapturing the Kazekage's attention instantly.
"Really? What makes you think that he could be a member of the Uchiha clan?" he asked skeptically. The Miura boy pointed to his eyes.
"He had a sharingan. He hypnotized me at least three times with it, and he was able to ward off any genjutsu I tried to use with it. I'm pretty sure he's an Uchiha" he said firmly. The Kazekage nodded and stretched.
"Good work, Kron-san. Despite your fairly brutal loss from a combative perspective, you gathered valuable information. I'm going back home for the night. Konoha's combat unit will be arriving tomorrow morning, and I would like to review this information with Kakashi-san, the leader of said division" he said. The redhead then looked to Chiyo.
"Will he be combat-ready within two days?" he asked. The old woman nodded and began to seal the wounds on Kron's back.
"More or less. He won't quite be at one-hundred percent right away, but he heals brilliantly on his own. He'll be ready" she assured the young Kage. Gaara nodded and exited the room, leaving Naruto, Kron, and Chiyo alone.
"Yuna's gonna be pissed. You know that right?" Naruto asked his comrade. The former Kumo ninja sighed and took a sip of water from a yet-untouched cup on the bedside table.
"I know. She really doesn't like it when I get beat up. Unfortunately, our line of work doesn't lend itself to safety. She usually just yells at me for a little bit and then kisses me" he said with a shrug. The blonde nodded.
"Yeah. Hinata doesn't really get mad, per se, she just gets super emotional. She usually does the kissing thing too. Women are weird as hell" he said. Chiyo chuckled at the exchange.
"To think that I'll be confirming the marriages of such dense young men. What a load of rubbish" she said humorously. Both chunin glanced at her.
"We aren't even getting married yet" they both said simultaneously. The old woman smiled to herself and began to bandage Kron's wounds.
"Give it time, boys. Give it time"
Itachi sipped his tea as he awaited the arrival of his last remaining family member. The Konoha combat unit had arrived roughly two hours previously, and the Uchiha had requested that Kakashi send Sasuke to the cafe, where Itachi was sitting alongside Yugito.
"Is it entirely necessary for you to be here, Yugito-san?" Itachi asked tiredly. The Jinchuuriki nodded and took a bite of the sandwich she had ordered.
"Yup. I'm not missing an opportunity to meet my soon-to-be brother-in-law. If what you've told me is true, he's going to be fun to poke at" she said. The Uchiha pursed his lips.
"He may not be in the joking mood when he gets here. I get the feeling that this conversation may become ugly quite quickly" he said somewhat nervously. Then, as if on cue, the cafe door opened. Sasuke slowly made his way through the open door and looked around for a moment. After several seconds, he caught sight of his brother and walked over to him.
"It's been awhile, Itachi" he said, his facial expression unreadable. The former Akatsuki gestured to a chair that had been pulled up to the side of the table. Sasuke accepted the silent offer and sat down.
"Ask your questions, Sasuke. I know you have them" Itachi said once his brother was situated. The genin took a deep breath.
"What compelled you to finally tell me the truth?" he asked. The elder Uchiha shook his head and sighed.
"That is a longer story than I have time to tell in its entirety . The gist of it is that the Akatsuki's agenda became far too unpredictable. Even for me. I made the decision to cut my ties with them, which, in turn, invalidated any reasons for me keeping you in the dark any longer" he explained. Sasuke considered his explanation for a moment before nodding.
"That makes some sense, I guess. Second question: What really happened to Shisui?" he asked. Itachi felt a surge of emotion at the sound of his deceased friend's name.
"He committed suicide. One of his eyes had been stolen from him, so he gave me his remaining one for safe keeping. Once both of his eyes were gone, he threw himself into the river. I wasn't being truthful when I told you that I killed my best friend to attain my Mangekyou sharingan. His suicide is what caused my eyes to evolve" he said. The genin shifted in his seat.
"I would assume that a member of the council stole his eye?" he asked. The former Akatsuki nodded.
"Yes. Danzo Shimura. He was incredibly untrusting of Shisui's plan to prevent the coup d'etat, and he was willing to do anything to prevent the plan from coming to fruition. He stole Shisui's left eye, and he would have stolen his right eye as well had I not intervened" he said. Sasuke's face contorted into anger, but he was silenced by a raised hand from his brother before he could speak.
"Keep that information quiet until this war is over. Turmoil within Konoha is the last thing we need right now" the elder Uchiha said. Sasuke recomposed himself and took another deep breath.
"Why...did you spare me? Why only me?" he asked quietly. Itachi remained silent for several moments as he gazed at his brother.
"I planned on doing so, but when the time came, I couldn't do it. I couldn't bring myself to end your life. You were young, and you had no idea what was going on behind the scenes. If anybody deserved to live, it was you" he said. Sasuke stared at the ground as a whirlwind of emotions ravaged him.
"I still...wish you hadn't spared me. Things would have been so much less painful if you had just killed me right then and there" he said shakily. Itachi put a hand on his shoulder.
"Beyond my emotional attachment to you, you also greatly impressed me that night. You initially fainted from shock, which was absolutely understandable. As I was turning to leave the scene, you woke up again and attacked me. You awakened your sharingan in a desperate bid to avenge your family. You showed me just how far you could go given time. If you need a reason beyond my love for you, I spared you because you earned my respect" he said. Sasuke sighed heavily.
"It's funny. I spent most of my early childhood trying to earn your respect. The moment I finally did, I was trying to kill you. It's going to take me a long time to stomach all of this" he said. The former Akatsuki chuckled.
"I would be concerned if that wasn't the case" he said. The genin then looked to Yugito, who had silently observed the conversation from her seat across from Itachi.
"Who's she? A friend of yours?" he asked curiously. The Jinchuuriki grinned and held up her left hand, which donned her wedding ring.
"I'm his fiancée. My name is Yugito Nii" she said. Sasuke's eyes widened as he glanced at his brother, who was suddenly looking quite uncomfortable.
"Wait, you're getting married? How the hell did that happen?" he asked, completely baffled by the revelation. Itachi shrugged and scratched the back of his head.
"I came to the Suna, found her in a bar, watched her drink herself silly, carried her home, and then fate happened to cross our paths several more times. In all honesty, I'm not sure how I got to where I am" he said. Yugito finished her sandwich and stretched in her chair.
"Your brother's a slickster when he has the energy to be one. Reeled me in hook, line, and sinker" she said. Sasuke chuckled and slapped his brother on the back.
"Nice. I knew you were good, but I had no idea you were capable of snagging an older woman" he said wryly. The blonde woman immediately turned bright red.
"How did you know?" she asked rigidly. The young Uchiha activated his sharingan and smiled.
"You can tell a lot about a person from looking at their chakra system. Age included" he said with a laugh. Itachi then ruffled a flustered Yugito's hair and grinned.
"You don't look a day over twenty. Unless they have a dojutsu, nobody is going to know. Besides, you're still very young to begin with" he said reassuringly. The Jinchuuriki sighed and leaned back in her chair.
"Also, you're going to be an uncle" she said, as she looked back to Sasuke. The young Uchiha shot his brother another questioning look, to which Itachi shrugged once more. Sasuke then frowned and turned back to Yugito.
"I'm not babysitting it" he said firmly. The Jinchuuriki grinned and ordered herself a cup of tea.
"Until you have a kid, you're going to be the go-to. Whether you like that or not is no concern of mine" she said. Sasuke sighed heavily and stood up from his chair.
"Well, I'm glad we could talk a bit, Itachi. As I said, I'm still not all that sure how to feel about all of this, but I still appreciate you telling me all that you did. I'll see you around" he said as he exited the cafe.
"Cute kid. He has a whole lot of you in him" Yugito said once the young Uchiha had left. Itachi smirked and finished the last of his tea.
"Cute, hm? I understand that he and I have some similarities, but you must control your preferences for younger men. It might get you into trouble" he said humorously. The blonde woman snorted.
"Oh, save it. Just admit that you like me being older than you already. It's pretty obvious that it gets you going" she said. The Uchiha chuckled.
"I'll never say it out loud. You would never let me hear the end of it if I did" he said. Yugito smiled and reached across the table to take hold of his hand.
"I'll still make fun of you for it even without you admitting it. That speech you made to him was in excellent taste. You're a good brother. That was a joy to watch" she said. Itachi sighed.
"I try to be. Even if that means being a nuisance at times. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. Until the child is born, he's the only family I have left, so you'll likely be seeing quite a bit of him" he said. The Jinchuuriki let go of his hand and put money down on the table.
"Sounds good to me. Let's get out of here. I need to spar a few rounds" she said. Itachi nodded and followed her out of the cafe.
'At least I can still call myself his brother'
A/N: It took me a while, but I finally had Itachi and Sasuke interact. Hope I wrote this scene alright.
See you next chapter! Read and Review!