Yo! Another week, another chapter.
My writing efforts have stalled significantly. I am still working on chapter 96. Still, with the ending so soon in sight, I'm excited to almost be done with this story.
Anyways, without further ado, here's a mostly Sasuke chapter.
Chapter 90: Brothers
"Incoming, Sasuke!"
"Right!"
A massive fireball illuminated the otherwise dark forest floor around them, and Sasuke marveled at the way his brother's flame caught at least ten Zetsu within its diameter. He felt no pity for the things, not just for how inhuman they were, but also because they were fully intent on wiping out the Leaf Village, his home.
He wouldn't be allowing that, not a damned chance.
Off in the distance, he watched as Kakashi brought out a few of his famed 'Thousand Jutsu', annihilating the Zetsu lines with Jutsu after Jutsu, ranging from earth to wind to water. Several of the others did the same, using some of their biggest abilities to cut down on this opening wave of Zetsu.
They had no real idea just how many of them there were. Black Zetsu had used the word 'army' to describe them, and though Sasuke, seeing their numbers, wouldn't have described them that way, well…
He was worried he hadn't seen their real numbers.
Still… even as exhausted as he perhaps should've been, having fought through a good fifteen mercenaries on his way through the Akatsuki base on his way to his brother's side… there was something about the day that had him feeling… invigorated. Fighting alongside Itachi, being on the same side as Itachi, knowing the truth, no matter how horrid, about Itachi… it was truly liberating. His chakra hummed, his body was light, his blade gleamed in the sun…
He could feel his eyes… reacting. He couldn't quite tell what it was yet…
But he had a feeling.
"We can't possibly cut down this many!" Kakashi shouted as another three hundred broke out of the ground a way's away. "From what we've seen, they're fairly lumbering. Instead of battling against them here, we should move back to the Leaf Village as soon as possible, and get the word out that they're coming!"
No one seemed to have any complaints about the plan, and so Sasuke followed it without any trouble. He watched with a small, tired smile as Naruto and Tenten fired off a few more Kunai into the crowd of Zetsu, taking out a couple more, before the two turned around, exchanging a light fist-bump.
And they were off, traveling towards the Leaf Village…
Hoping they'd make it in time.
/-/
It was about three days later when they made it back to the Leaf, which was far better time than they'd made arriving at the Akatsuki's base, even if the circumstances of said journey were entirely different.
They'd been running to save Fu and the other Jinchuuriki last time, surely, but at least then, they'd known their timeframe. Here… they barely knew what they were up against, and they were being pursued the whole way. The few breaks they had taken had felt anxious, gripped with panic at the thought that, while they rested, those creatures were getting closer and closer to their home. They'd barely had the time to sleep, let alone to really rest their legs or other already injured muscles. He could tell Anko especially was barely holding together by the time they made it back, her injured leg quite literally quaking beneath her as she forced it to keep moving.
It was the dead of night when they arrived, but even so, the two at the gate (Izumo and Kotetsu, he was fairly sure) were still there. They told them of their intent, and blazed right by them, kind of hoping they'd already been informed on what it was that was going on from the messenger hawk they'd sent ahead, and that said information had already been passed to the barrier corps as well.
They made it through the entire village in about 15 minutes (largely due to a rather liberal use of the 'Flicker' technique) and arrived at Tsunade's office. The woman greeted them rather curtly and allowed them to fill her in immediately.
Once they'd finished, her expression was… not grim, but certainly not hopeful, either.
"An army on our doorstep…" She muttered, swearing slightly as she slid a memoire across her desk towards Naruto and Kakashi. "Shizune's unit is coming back to the Leaf, but they're about two days out in the worst-case scenario. How long do we have until the Zetsu are here?"
"By our estimations on their speed alone…" Kakashi sighed, clearly concerned, but doing his best to hide it. "About eight hours, ma'am. They don't seem to have any need for sleep, or for food or water, for that matter. They're certainly not immortal, all of us killed a few, but they're… inhuman might be the best term."
Tsunade nodded, before staring up at someone Sasuke had been surprised she hadn't brought up already.
"And what of you, Itachi Uchiha." Tsunade asked the man, crossing her hands in front of her as she leaned forward. "I was informed of your… mission when I asked Homura and Koharu, as you told me to do with your messenger hawk. Your actions were in the interest of the Leaf Village, I understand that now. If you'd like, you could be pardoned under the full extent of–"
"Thank you," Itachi cut the woman off, smiling a bit sadly. "But no, I'd like to remain the criminal I've always been. To shame the Uchiha name… to tell the truth of what happened, to let that be known to the world… is not worth me being granted a measly pardon."
Sasuke felt some small semblance of anger within him at that, biting down on his lip as he took a step forward, and looked up at Tsunade with a fire in his heart.
"Then don't tell them."
Both Tsunade and Itachi, along with, really, everyone else, seemed shocked at his words.
"Sasuke?" his brother seemed confused. "What–"
"Lie." He spoke. "Make something up. Say that Itachi was under the control of some puppet master, tell them that the Uchiha had been armed to blow the village to smithereens by some crazed Jutsu, tell them… tell them something." Sasuke shook his head, his heart beating harshly in his chest. "I will not have my brother live out what he has left of his life in infamy… simply because of his ill-faded complex that everything in the world must rest on his shoulders."
Tsunade actually snorted at the somewhat dismayed look on Itachi's face, as did, after a moment, Naruto himself.
"Hey, you heard the man." His best friend elbowed his brother. "Seems like that's not going to fly with him."
"I…" Itachi muttered under his breath.
"Hm… I suppose I could make that happen." Tsunade rubbed her chin. "If you are to defend the village alongside the other ninja, the rank and file will need a reason to not try and kill you on sight."
"I…" Itachi swallowed, nodding after another moment. "I will defer to your judgement."
"Good to hear."
Tsunade cleared her throat after that, taking a moment to think.
"Well… with eight hours… we don't exactly have a lot of time, so we should get right to planning our defensive measures," Tsunade spoke, looking up at them, her eyes running over the lot of them. "I think it's fairly obvious that not a single one of you is in good enough condition to be fighting at the moment, so I'll be ordering all of you, once we're done here, to go back home and get some rest. We'll need you in top shape if you're going to be defending the village."
No one had any complaints about that, hell, Sasuke was fairly sure Anko looked to the sky with a small smile, as if thanking the gods.
"Even still, we don't have enough time for any actual sleep, unfortunately. The truth of the matter is that we're going to need all of you to go and defend the village at some point, our numbers simply aren't large enough to allow you to rest while leaving the defense solely to others."
They all understood that well enough. The reason that they'd been sent to assault the Akatsuki in the first place was that they were the elite of their Village. It would make sense that it could not be defended without them.
But at the same time, Sasuke was pretty sure he wasn't alone in being more exhausted than he could possibly fathom.
"As such, with all of you both needed for defense, but also needing rest, I'll be asking your group to split in half. Half of you will go into the forests beyond the Leaf in but a few hours and defend against the Zetsu before they can arrive. The other half will be given an extra day to rest and recover, and then will take the places of those who fought today. By the time it will come for you to be slotted out, hopefully, Shizune's unit will have returned. I've also called in aid from some of our allies as well, who should, hopefully, also arrive within a few days."
Sasuke felt like there was something he should've said there, something that egged at him at the back of his head, but he couldn't manage to think of what it was, so he let it go.
It couldn't have been that important if he'd forgot it, he reasoned.
Jiraiya stepped forward almost immediately.
"I'll take first shift, then." He spoke with a smirk. "I'm still pretty rarin' to go, and if the Zetsu get any closer to the Leaf Village in the next day or two, I won't really be able to utilize my arsenal to the fullest."
Tsunade nodded, and Sasuke could see the logic in his decision himself. The man's massive summons couldn't be utilized if he were in the village proper, at least not as freely.
"I'll go as well." Guy said, giving a big thumbs up. "Tenten, on your way back to your house, can you fetch Lee and Neji, and inform them of what's happening? The four of us will defend on this opening wave!"
She nodded after a moment. "Can do, sensei."
"I'm up, I suppose." Tenzo sighed out. "It'd be nice to be able to take a break, but I suppose need's must."
"I… it pains me to say this, but I must opt out." Haku spoke, clutching the bloodied bandages hanging about his left side. They'd stopped actually bleeding long ago, but even so… It was clear the man needed medical attention. "I need to go to the hospital. Once I'm healed up, I'd like to get back into it, but…"
No one questioned his decision, instead shooting supportive looks his way.
"I'll opt out as well." Anko spoke, raising a hand. "Need to get this thigh looked at."
Dosu did as well. "Same here, but, well… with my heart, I guess."
"The two of us are raring to go, though." Kin spoke for both herself and Zaku, stepping up. "We can fight."
"Uhm…" One of the Jinchuuriki, the blonde from Kumo, raised her hand. "Will we be expected to fight?"
"No." Tsunade spoke. "In fact, if you'd like, and you're confident enough in your strength, you could trek back to your home villages. If not, then you can always hunker down for a week or two until this all blows over."
None of the Jinchuuriki so much is moved, and Sasuke got the feeling that their confidence had been pretty shot by being successfully kidnapped by the Akatsuki.
"We'll take your gracious offer." That same woman spoke after a moment, bowing.
"Mhm."
"Ooh, Hinata!" Fu shouted excitedly. "Since you're taking time off to regenerate chakra, can I stay with you!?"
"Uhm… sure." Hinata smiled, turning to Tsunade. "I suppose you can count me out, Lady Hokage."
"I'm down to fight." Ino said, pounding her fist into her hands. "I played support for a hell of a long time there. I'm not done yet!"
Kabuto laughed. "I'll… how about I'll join up with the hospital staff for a while? I imagine I'd be of a lot more use there then on the front lines."
Tsunade hummed in affirmation. "I'll let them know you're coming."
Kakashi seemed ashamed to be raising his hand. "I… can't fight any longer, I'm afraid. I've been going for roughly two weeks now nonstop." He turned to Tenzo and Guy. "Honestly, I'm shocked the two of you are still standing."
"Well, all I need is my natural born spirit!" Guy smirked.
"And I mostly stuck to supportive maneuvers for our fights, aside from that singular one against Konan." Tenzo explained. "Neither Guy nor I took any major injuries, either, unlike both you and Anko, you with your burns and she with her leg wound, to warrant a rest."
"Ah, well." Kakashi shook his head. "I can't much argue with that, can I?"
"I'll march out there if you'll have me." Itachi murmured after a moment, smiling a bit melancholically. "To fight under the banner of the Leaf once more… would be an honor."
"Same here." Sasuke took a step forward, shoulder to shoulder with his brother. "All I did in the base was track Itachi down. In terms of chakra, I'm still near full."
Sasuke turned to the final two people who'd yet to inform the rest of them of their choice. Both Naruto and Sakura stared at the ground below them, seemingly wanting to say a variety of things. Unfortunately for them, both seemed to know what it was they needed to say.
"I…" Naruto began after a moment, looking up. "I'll go along with–"
"Take a break, Naruto. You and Sakura both."
His two best friends turned to him as he smiled their way. The expression on his face was not one of doubt, or concern, but of pride and confidence.
"I know what you're thinking, you're thinking that you need to be out there, aren't you? You think that if you're not holding the village, and it's destroyed because you decided to rest, you'll forever blame yourselves. Well… guess what?"
Neither said a thing.
"No one here is asking you to go out there right now. No one here is going to blame you if you make the right call, and rest up for tomorrow. Like it or not, the two of you are almost out of chakra. Naruto, you had a chunk of the Nine-Tails ripped out of you, which is, if I'm correct, interfering with your ability to access Indigo Sage Mode, isn't it?"
His best friend could only look away, giving a small nod after a moment.
"And Sakura," He turned to his girlfriend. "From what the others tell me, you utilized some crazy new Wood Style. That's great and all, but at the end of the day, you can't do it again at the moment, can you?"
She shook her head no.
"Which means, if the two of you marched down to the battlefield as you are now, you'd only end up being liabilities."
Neither could meet his eyes.
"So, I'm telling you this as your friend," He spoke, smiling. "Come back tomorrow. Fully rested, fully prepared, fully ready to take on the army at our doorstep, with your control over your abilities restored, and your powers at their mightiest."
There was a brief moment when he thought they might protest his judgeemnt, but after another moment, Naruto simply laughed, and rubbed the back of his neck with one hand as Sakura shook her head amusedly.
"Alright, Sasuke." His girlfriend spoke. "We'll leave it up to you, then."
"You're right, annoyingly enough." Naruto exclaimed. "Fine, fine. I'll get some sleep. Gods know I need it."
He smirked as they all headed for the back door. At the end of the day, they were all going home, at least for a little while. It was just that some of them would be back in the fight in little over four hours.
Sasuke didn't say anything about that… but he wasn't exactly thrilled by the prospect.
"Ah… Sasuke?"
He turned, seeing his brother standing awkwardly at the edge of the room, away from the others.
It was so odd for Sasuke to see the man before him so… nervous. Unsure of himself. He'd always come across as the one in control of every situation, the one who had calculated every variable. Now…
Now he was just an older brother trying to repair a bond that'd been so viciously broken.
"I… lacking any place to go…" He looked up into Sasuke's gaze, his cheeks a bit warm from the embarrassment of having to ask this.
Sasuke would not make him.
"I've got a futon I can pull out in my apartment." He spoke, gesturing with his thumb in the direction of the building. "You wanna' rest up there?"
Itachi's mouth opened and closed several times in the next few seconds, but finally, after what felt like an eternity, the man nodded. "I… would like that very much."
/-/
"And…" Her father looked down at the girl to her side, who was "oohing" and "aahing" as she took in the details of the Hyuga manor. "Who is this, exactly?"
"Er…" She turned to Fu, who beamed her way as she let out a small laugh. "This is my… friend, Fu. She's who I've been writing to for the last few months, and who I went on that mission to rescue."
Hiashi bobbed his head up and down slowly, like he was processing all of that information.
"Well… seems your mission was a success, then. Well done."
"Thank you, father." She spoke. "Uhm… well… She's from the Waterfall Village, and, lacking anywhere else to stay, I was thinking of allowing her to stay in my room for the night."
"Well… I see no reason why she couldn't." Hiashi spoke, massaging his chin with one hand. "We've several guest rooms, though. Would she not be more comfortable staying in one of those?"
"I… guess that would be fine as well," She turned to Fu. "How would you feel about–"
"Awww…" Fu murmured disappointedly. "I thought we were having a sleepover…"
Hiashi shot her a single raised eyebrow.
"Er… I did… sort of say that…"
"Then I suppose you can borrow a futon from one of the guest rooms, then." He shook his head, sighing. "It will be good to have you, Miss Fu. Let me, or any of the other members of our household, know if you need anything."
It was the sort of greeting that was customary for a major families head. Something one said to be polite, to appear courteous and respectful, but also something that was rather obviously not to be followed. To someone who understood basic manners, that was clear.
Naturally, Fu did not.
"Ooh, ooh!" She exclaimed excitedly. "I've always wanted to try an actual training arena and are any of the Hyuga available to spar against!? Oh, actually, are your Byakugan really able to see 360 degrees? Hinata said they had a gap, also, she mentioned a younger sister, can I meet her!? Oh, by the way, do you guys have a super cool bath I could use!? Cause, like, I really stink from being out for like a month with nothing to wash myself with, haha!"
Hiashi's face looked like it'd been punched by a monsoon.
"I… you…" He took a deep, calming breath, before saying. "I'll… have one of my assistants fill you in on all of that, bath included, and if Hanabi wishes to meet with you… I suppose you could. How does that sound?"
"Awesome!"
"Yes…" Hiashi spoke, as if he had no concept of the word he'd just heard. "Please, allow me to speak to my daughter for a moment while you get accustomed to the space."
"Okay!" Fu said, standing ramrod still.
"…Alone."
"Ooooh." Fu realized, nodding sagely. "Sure. Where am I headed, just…"
"Out that way," He pointed towards a door at the end of the hallway off to his left. "Into the courtyard. The training area is there."
"Cool! Thanks, Hinata's dad!"
There was silence for a moment as Fu exited the room, slid open the door to the courtyard, and let out an excited screech at seeing that two Hyuga were already using it to spar.
"Your friend is…" Her father seemed to take a moment to gather himself before continuing. "Charming."
She swallowed as she gave a small, nervous laugh.
/-/
The knock at Naruto's door was unexpected, and given he'd been about to go to sleep, he'd walked to the door intent to give Jiraiya or Sasuke or whoever this was a piece of his mind.
When it was Tenten, smiling a bit awkwardly at him as she rubbed the back of her neck, he found himself wondering what exactly he should say.
"…Yo." Ended up being what he went with, which, if he was being honest, felt kind of lame.
"Yo." Tenten gave a lazy wave. "Er… sorry to bother you, but uhm… I was… well… shit, sorry, I'm being kind of weird right now, give me a second."
He waited patiently (or as patiently as he could with as tired as he was) for her to take a deep breath and continue speaking.
"I wanted to say thanks." She smiled his way. "For… helping me a few weeks back."
Naruto found himself laughing. "You already thanked me."
"Yeah, but… I felt it deserved repeating, for one, and two… I didn't feel like I'd really repaid the favor as much as I'd have liked to."
He didn't really understand that, but at the same time, he wasn't her.
"So… as motivation…" She stepped forward, her face red hot for some reason. "When we finish dealing with this stupid battle… and we've beaten the Akatsuki… what would you say to going to that barbecue place?"
He thought on that for a moment, before smiling widely, finding he rather liked the idea.
"Alright, sounds great!"
Tenten practically beamed as she looked up at him, laughing a bit awkwardly, as if she hadn't expected such an answer.
"Hah… that's… that's great."
"Yeah, I'll invite Sasuke, and Sakura, and everyone else!" He said, missing the way Tenten's expression dropped somewhat. "We'll make a day of it!"
Tenten stood there, looking stunned as she seemed to process his words. He feared he'd said something wrong, but as he was about to apologize, she simply laughed.
"Make a day of it… ha…" She shook her head. "Somehow, that's just like you."
"What?" He asked, tilting his head. "Did I say something wrong, or…?"
"No, no!" She assured him, smiling, though he couldn't help noticing the tiny bit of sadness that hung about the expression. "That's… that sounds great, actually. All of us together… we have no choice but to make it through this, now."
He laughed. "Of course!"
Tenten stood silently in the doorway for the moment, and as he was about to say something himself to break the silence, she spoke up again.
"Thanks, Naruto. For always cheering me up when I'm doubting myself."
He grinned a bit dopily. "What are friends for, right?"
"Friends… yeah."
There was a moment there that Naruto wasn't sure how to process. It was something… unfamiliar to him. An odd piece of time that felt somehow… significant. Before he could act on it (and he had no idea what he was even about to do as an 'act'), Tenten had turned around, her face red, facing out into the moonlit night.
"Uh… good luck, Tenten." He managed to say past the lump in his throat. "I-I'll see you tomorrow… when we swap and stuff."
"Mhm…" Tenten hummed, shooting him one last smile as she walked down the hall towards the stairs.
"See you tomorrow."
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"Are you sure? I don't want to impose, and–"
"Oh shut up! You're not imposing. Hell, you're practically family!"
Anko blushed somewhat at that but nodded after a moment. "Y'know, sometimes I wish you hadn't taken after me so much in the personality department. Back when you were all weak and demure you were so much easier to deal with."
"Seems like a 'you' problem."
Her master snorted. "I guess it does. Still, though, I'm supposed to be going to the hospital, and–"
"And they won't feed you anything good there at all, so you might as well take what we can give you! Besides, it's not like you're going to be here for hours, we're only having dinner together."
She stepped up to her parents' house and knocked on the door. Her mother came almost immediately, clearing having been told she was coming back tonight, and almost instantly wrapped her in a hug.
"Child… I swear…" Her mom squished her into her bosom. "If you don't stop getting kidnapped by horrible people…"
"Y-yeah…" She could barely let out, rapidly losing air from her mother's death grip. "Really… isn't intentional, mom."
"Oh… Miss Anko, isn't it?" Her mom addressed her master. "It's been a few months, how are you?"
"Oh… good, good." Anko let out a bit awkwardly. "Just… training. You know how it is…"
Sakura let out a groan as she corrected the woman. "Actually, she broke into the Akatsuki's hideout to help rescue me. Also, she's pretty much my big sister at this point, so I decided I was going to invite her over for dinner tonight."
Her mom shot her an odd look, before, without much complaint, nodding her head. "I have no problem with that, if Miss Anko would like to join us."
"Oh, well…" Anko laughed as she read the back of her neck uncomfortably. "I'd hate to impose… especially when your daughter just got back from–"
"Oh, nonsense!" Sakura's mother gripped onto Anko's arm, pulling her against her and into a deep hug. "If Sakura considers you family, then you're family, and that's that."
"Er… Mrs. Haruno–"
"Call me Mebuki."
"M-Mebuki, then," Anko tried to protest further, but, clearly, seeing the stares the other two were shooting her, seemed to decide she should maybe just go with it. "I… I'll be in your care."
Her mother smiled. "Perfect. Come in, come in!"
And the both of them did.
"See, told you you wouldn't be imposing."
"Oh, shut up."
She gave a rather undignified laugh.
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Flicking on the light in his room and throwing his bag onto the nearby nightstand almost immediately, Sasuke rummaged, firstly, through the closet he very rarely went through, while Itachi stood awkwardly in front of his window, staring out at the Leaf Village below.
The night was quiet, with dark, billowing clouds beginning to gather overhead. Realistically the lighting wasn't the best for sightseeing, and yet even still his brother seemed to take in the Leaf Village's moderate splendor with a reverence he could not quite understand, having lived there his entire life.
"You've… a nice place." Itachi said after what felt like too long.
"Mm."
They were silent as he set up his brother's futon and climbed into his own bed. Technically, he was probably supposed to go to sleep immediately. After all, in but a few hours, they'd be leaving once more in the middle of the morning, defending against the Zetsu's attack… but instead, he found himself sitting up, and looking down at his brother, who was doing the same.
"It's been… so long since I've been here and been allowed to relax." Itachi spoke after a while. "Of course, I came here in order to intimidate Danzo, to stop him from trying to harm you in any way, but… to be allowed to simply take in the sites… it's wonderful. The Village has changed so much, and yet, it is the same as the one I left all those years ago."
He found a wave of melancholy washing over him as he watched his brother's aimless gaze and sighed out. He knew what the man meant; could identify it himself. Surely, the Village itself hadn't aged a day, but…
Their family had been destroyed, their lives uprooted, changed irrecoverably several times. He was a Jonin, a teacher to three children he'd barely gotten to spend time with recently (and still wouldn't be allowed to, once again) and a leading member of one of the strongest three-man-cells in the Leaf.
Things were… terribly different.
A question had been eating at him for the last few days, and for some reason, he finally found himself ready to ask it. Well, perhaps not ready, but realizing that he might have very little time to do so, so he might as well do it now while he could.
"I think I understand the basic reason why, but…" He took a deep, shaky breath, trying to ignore the feeling of haziness that'd been around his vision for the last few days, before looking right at his brother. "Why did you join the Akatsuki after everything that happened?"
"To watch over them for the Leaf Village," Itachi began softly. "To keep tabs on the organization in case they became too dangerous, needed to be culled."
"And you truly think that was the right decision?"
"I think… That it was a decision, one of very few that was laid out before me after that night, and it was the best one I could take to ensure both yours and the Leaf Villages futures."
He paused for a moment as a droplet of rain hit the window outside. It began pouring down after what felt like only a few moments.
The sound was oddly relaxing.
"I truly intended to die." Itachi admitted. "I never wanted you to know of what had happened… to have your view of mother and father, of our entire clan, corrupted like I had. To have your view of the Leaf Village changed, to have all of it come crashing down around you at once…" He looked back at him. "I can see it in your eyes… how much this has affected you. They… Resemble mine own now."
He could tell there was a bit of a double entendre in the man's words as well.
"I… believe I possess the same eyes as you, now."
"As do I." Itachi spoke, sighing. "But… we can discuss that later. I wanted to ask, more importantly… Do you… have second thoughts about continuing to fight under the banner of the Leaf Village, even knowing what they did to our Clan, to our family?"
He considered those words carefully for the next few moments.
"I would be lying if I said it had no effect on me, surely." He stared down at his opened palm. "Knowing that Danzo and the elders eliminated everyone, and then passed you off as a murderous psychopath… surely, there's a part of me that resents them for that. And there's a part of me that still can't forgive you for the way you treated me on that night."
Itachi's face fell somewhat.
"But… I won't allow that to sway me. Because I have faith."
"Faith… in what?"
"Faith that things will get better." He elucidated. "But more than that, faith in those around me. Surely, the world is a complex maze of psychologies and ideologies, of nations and power struggles, but… but there's someone I believe will change all of that…"
He saw Naruto's beaming, sun-like smile, saw the way that the man intended to change the world for the better, and found himself smiling.
"Someone who'll be coming to power very soon if we have our way… and at the end of the day, above all else," He gazed right into his brother's eyes, trying to show him the will that lurked within his own. "I believe in him."
Itachi was silent for a moment, before, with a satisfied grin, he laid down in his futon. Sasuke did the same on his bed and found that rest hung only a moment or two away.
"You've got some great friends, Sasuke."
He nodded. "I know."
He believed that was it for their conversation as he turned in his bed, stretching somewhat as he fought to find a comfortable position.
"So…" Itachi's voice rang out once more, and he turned back towards Itachi somewhat suspiciously. "You and Sakura."
He raised a solitary eyebrow, wondering where this was going.
"Uhm… yeah."
His brother smiled innocently.
"…Are you planning on having children?"
He turned back over immediately, his face blazing hot.
"I'm not having this talk with you right now."
"Right, my apologies. I… er…"
"Goodnight, Itachi."
"…Goodnight, Sasuke."
End Chapter 90
Brotherly love and all that.
Oh, and a war. But mostly the brotherly love thing.
See you all next week!