Sakura was the one who opened the front door so that she and Sasuke could head out for the meeting with Lady Tsunade early the next morning. She really wasn't paying much attention - in fact, her head was turned back, looking into her place so she could see if Sasuke was right behind her before she walked out. That's when she ran into something...or someone who was in her path.

"What the...?!" she said out loud. "Ow!"

She stood still, rubbing her nose which she had hit in the process. "Naruto?"

"Yes, it's me," he replied.

"What are you doing standing in front of my doorway?" she asked innocently enough.

"Trying to figure out why Sasuke never came home last night," he said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, that. We just assumed you'd figure that he'd be with me," answered Sakura.

"I did assume that!" he replied. "I just didn't know that...well, you know. C'mon guys, aren't you going a little fast and all?"

"Sakura, hold on!" came a shout from inside the apartment. Sasuke was obviously hurrying to get out the door and didn't have a clue that Naruto was there. "Oh. Naruto," he said flatly.

"Good morning, Teme. Have fun last night?" asked Naruto.

"As if that's even your business," added Sakura.

"Jealous?" Sasuke asked.

"No, not really," said Naruto. "It's just that..." Naruto got very serious all of a sudden. "Don't...rush into anything, ok? We're a team and I don't want your hormones to cause us any unnecessary drama. We've had enough of that."

Sakura smiled at her teammate. He was genuinely worried about them. She grabbed him and gave him a hug. "Thanks, Naruto. But there isn't anything to worry about." She broke the hug and looked into his eyes. "Ok?"

Naruto nodded.

"Can we please get going?" asked Sasuke. "I thought I was going to make us late, but now I think I'll blame it on Dobe here if Granny says anything."

"You wish!" said Naruto, back to his usual self again.

"Well, c'mon then," said Sakura as she ran down the stairs.

OlOlOlOlOlO

When they arrived at the tower, the door to the Hokage's office was already open meaning that it was fine for them to go in. Inside, they already found the shinobi who were closest to them - Team Asuma, Team Gai, Team Kurenai as well as the remaining shinobi from Team Kakashi.

"You wouldn't happen to know why there are three ANBU in here with us?" asked Sasuke quietly to Sakura.

"I'm not really sure," answered Sakura. Other than the three ANBU, everyone else in the room was familiar to her.

Lady Tsunade walked in with Shizune and Tonton following her, but quickly told everyone to stand down and just listen.

"I have called you all here for a very important meeting," she started. "I'm sure you have all learned some truths of this village since the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War and shortly, some of the wrongs from the past will be made right."

"What is she talking about?" Sasuke heard Ino whisper to Chouji.

Tsunade turned to the three ANBU Black Ops who were in the room. "Have you done as I asked? Is your mission complete?"

The lead ANBU answered her, "We have, M'Lady." He bowed to the Hokage.

"Very well, you are dismissed with my gratitude," she told them. They disappeared in a flash.

"M'Lady, what is going on?" said Sakura boldly to her mentor.

"Today I will be making several arrangements that will surprise the Leaf Village and I wanted you all to be the first to know. I will be sending a communication across the village that will explain that Itachi Uchiha was a hero of the Leaf."

The room erupted in loud discussion and a bit of disbelief. Most of them had already heard that Itachi was not the villain he was made out to be, but none of them never thought that anything would ever be done about it. Itachi was dead after all, as was most of the Uchiha clan. Why stir this up now?

"I made a promise to Sasuke Uchiha that I would investigate the situation, which I have. Sasuke is once again an honorable Leaf shinobi and this transgression against his brother and his clan needs to be rectified." She turned to Sasuke. "We owe it to Sasuke - for without him, there is a possibility that some of us might not even been here today." She, of course, was referring to him helping Naruto defeat Tobi.

"Itachi Uchiha was following the orders of the Third Hokage, Danzo, Homura, and Koharu when he annihilated his clan. Not only that, but he hardly had a choice in the matter because if he refused, he would have been labeled a traitor anyway and executed. He had the best interests of the Leaf at heart when he joined the Akatsuki and did what he could even while the Leaf turned its back on him. He aided and assisted Naruto Uzumaki as an Akatsuki and was even the individual who ended the Edo Tensei, thus savings the lives of many shinobi from across this world."

"You mean...?" said Sasuke.

"Yes, everyone will know by tomorrow that your brother did not deserve to be called a traitor," answered Lady Tsunade.

Small tears escaped from the corner of Sasuke's eyes. Sakura placed her arm around his shoulder and squeezed.

"I have one more thing," said the Hokage. "Itachi Uchiha will be given a proper Konoha burial in the shinobi cemetery tomorrow evening. I expect that all of you will be present."

Sasuke turned to look at the Hokage once again not quite believing what he was hearing.

"M'Lady, how...? How exactly did you...?" asked Shikamaru.

"Those three ANBU were given a mission shortly after Sasuke's return to locate and return Itachi Uchiha to the Leaf. It wasn't easy, but they have fulfilled that mission successfully."

Sasuke walked up to Tsunade. He bowed his head towards her. "Thank you," he whispered. She gently touched the top of his head just as any sensei would do to a student.

"You are quite welcome, Sasuke. Your brother has taught me, and this village, much."

OlOlOlOlOlO

Once they were officially dismissed, the various shinobi who were in Tsunade's office started to file out to go about their day. Sasuke was one of the last ones out, but was caught by Tsunade before he could leave.

"Sasuke," she said to catch his attention.

He turned to face her.

"Close the door," she said implying she needed to speak with him privately. He did as she asked.

"Are you satisfied?" she said point-blank.

"Yes, Hokage-sama," he addressed her with the utmost respect while bowing. "My expectations have been exceeded with respect to this matter."

"Good," she replied. "I realize that you were the one who left the village all those years ago, but after understanding exactly what happened and why you did the things you did, I felt that we did owe you and the Uchiha clan for some of the Leaf's actions. I hope you are able to fully move on now. That reminds me...how are things going?"

"I'd say very well," he replied. "Thanks to you and Kakashi-sensei's intervention, I have made peace with many of the shinobi I have interacted with in the past."

"But...how did you...?" Tsunade had no idea that Sasuke was aware of the informal plan to have him forced into situations with the other teams so that he would have an opportunity to show them he had changed. "Who told you?"

"No one," Sasuke replied. "It was just a feeling I had."

Tsunade smiled and slightly shook her head from side-to-side. "As I would expect from you, Sasuke...your ability to sense even the slightest abnormality is among the best. I do have a few other things I need to discuss with you. The first specifically is Homura and Koharu."

"What about those two...," started Sasuke, but he was quickly interrupted before he said anything too bad.

"Ah-ah!" said Tsunade. "They are still elders of this village. Be careful what and where you say things about them. I am not quite sure what is going to happen when the story comes out tomorrow, but I am not going to be taking any personal action myself. I wanted to ensure that you also had no plans to intervene."

"I already promised you no personal vendettas," said Sasuke flatly.

"Alright then. I feel reassured," said Tsunade. "Secondly, I wanted to ask your intentions with the land the Uchiha once owned now that it is cleared."

"I went to look at it yesterday and it looks to be prime for redevelopment," answered Sasuke. "I need to make arrangements to put the plans in place over the next week or so."

"I see. So when your six months of needing an escort are over, it should be ready for you to move in," said Tsunade.

"That's the plan," seconded Sasuke.

"Last thing," said the Hokage. "You and I still need to meet and discuss any intel you can provide the Leaf with respect to Orochimaru and the Akatsuki."

"I thought Sakura was going to make those arrangements," said Sasuke. Come to think of it, she never got back to me. "Perhaps she just hasn't had time yet." After all, she was with me all of yesterday.

"Ah, so you two are close enough now that she is making appointments for you in your stead?" probed Tsunade.

Sasuke turned a light shade of pink. "We are...getting closer." Tsunade could tell that not only was Sasuke embarrassed, but that he really didn't want to stay on this topic any longer.

"Well, you are here now, so let's say you and I make a day of it two days from now - the day after the funeral," said Tsunade.

"I then will inform Kakashi-sensei that I will not be training that morning," said Sasuke.

"Fine. You are dismissed."

Sasuke bowed to the Hokage and walked out the door to her office. His head was spinning just a bit from everything that had happened already that day. The news would come out tomorrow and hopefully, those two elder pigs would get what was coming to them. Itachi's body had been located and he was to be given a hero's burial in the shinobi cemetery. And now, he needed to start seriously thinking about the Uchiha land development and what exactly he was going to have built there. It was definitely all coming together...but it was all so stressful at the same time.

He went down the stairs to the area in front of the tower and found Sakura standing there waiting for him.

"Is everything alright?" she asked him with concern.

Suddenly, all the stress that threatened to ruin his mood for the day seems to float away as this beauty with pink hair stood in front of him.

"Yeah, it's fine," he replied. "Nothing I can't handle." He grabbed her hand and they started walking.

OlOlOlOlOlO

The next day, a curious flyer had been posted in multiple locations across Konoha. At first, it just seemed like any other announcement from the Hokage. However, after a few people had read it, word quickly spread that this piece of paper was quite the bombshell. Crowds quickly gathered around each of the postings to read it.

"Is this a joke?" said one man.

"I don't think so," answered another man.

"That poor boy," said a woman.

"Boy? At least he's still alive. That poor clan," answered a teen girl.

A third person walked up. "And Itachi, too," he added to the conversation. "Imagine being considered a traitor all those years...and he was only a teenager!"

"Who did this to the Uchiha?" asked an older lady.

"I think it says on the flyer," said a teenage boy. He took a second glance at the writing on the announcement...

ANNOUNCEMENT

Tsunade Senju, Fifth Hokage of Konoha, makes the following announcement to all citizens:

It has recently come to my attention that a great injustice has been done, an injustice whose truth has been hidden in shadows for nearly a decade. It begins and ends with the funeral of a great shinobi this evening at dusk in the shinobi cemetery. It is then that Itachi Uchiha will be buried with all honors due to him, as has always been done with the other patriots of this village. The public is welcome.

Itachi Uchiha was an ANBU black ops operative at a very young age. He was given a secret order - one that he should never have given in the first place. The order was to eliminate the entire Uchiha clan, and it was given by the three village elders at the time and agreed to by the Third Hokage. If Itachi Uchiha hadn't fulfilled that order, he, as well as his brother Sasuke, would also have been killed with the remainder of his clan. He had no choice and completed his mission.

Itachi was quickly vilified by the village and fleed for his own safety. He joined the Akatsuki, but this was mainly to keep an eye on their activities and keep both Konoha as well as his younger brother safe. There were many times when Itachi Uchiha unselfishly saved shinobi from both the Leaf and from the other villages across the world. The Fourth Shinobi World War would not have ended favorably if not for his assistance.

Itachi Uchiha is a Hero of the Leaf.

"I can't even imagine being put in a situation that you have to kill your own relatives," said a young woman.

"And he was acting on orders, too. The elders ought to be ashamed," agreed an elderly gentleman. "Who were the elders back then anyway?"

"Even after he was blamed, he still served the village," noted a mother holding a baby.

OlOlOlOlOlO

Sasuke decided to take a walk through the village. He knew that the announcement was going to be posted sometime this morning and he wanted to not only read what exactly it said, but also to see if there was any reaction by the public in general.

He decided to put on a top with a hood so he would be less likely to be recognized. If there was one thing he didn't want to bother with today, it was to be jumped on by the citizens of Konoha. He, after all, had known these truths for years now. He knew that Itachi was a hero. All he wanted was to bask in the realization by others that both he and his brother weren't the evildoers everyone thought. There was a reason for everything that happened.

Sasuke noticed the crowds and decided to hang back and listen. When he heard the various comments being made, he just kept his head down and smiled.

Itachi, finally your name has been cleared.