Chapter 15

Brothers

Arriving at their destination took them a bit longer than expected due to the bad weather, but finally did they step into the small village their target was supposed to be in a few days' time. Tachi was to find them an inn to stay while Sakura made sure the target was not in the village yet.

Luckily, the weather has improved and it no longer rained. The sun could be seen peeking between the clouds, making Sakura smile, pleased about the change in weather. She walked around the small village, looking around for the target, but after a while came to the conclusion that they weren't at the village yet.

Sakura decided to turn around and find Tachi, they could always continue later on together, but froze at the feeling of familiar charka. She had not felt it in so long, she had stopped hoping for him to return years ago, but still…

Curiosity got the best of her and with a last glance in the inns direction, she ran towards the woods.

…

The moment he felt his brothers' chakra, Itachi knew that Sakura had felt it too. Sasuke always had had a bad timing, but this was something else, even for him. Sasuke would recognize him as Tachi, this he knew for sure. That boy was obsessed about finding and killing him, even if he himself was to blame for that.

He almost groaned as he felt Sakuras chakra go farther away, towards his brother.

He knew it would happen, he couldn't blame Sakura for wanting to see her old teammate. She was a passionate being. Even if Sasukes betrayal still stung, Itachi knew she still cared in her own way.

Itachi removed his Anbu mask with a small sigh, knowing it would do more harm than good to leave it on.

He would have to go and make sure Sasuke didn't hurt Sakura in his desperation to find him. Not as Tachi though, but as the killer that everyone knew him as.

He made a clone of himself, to leave someone unpack, and gave it his mask. He removed his Anbu gear and took out his regular clothes, the gray shirt with fishnet and plain grey pants. It didn't take him long to change and soon he was pulling his hair into its regular low ponytail and tied on his slashed forehead protector. He didn't have his ring or Akatsuki cloak with him, he had left them behind before going to Konoha, but this would do.

Before leaving he turned on his Sharingan and glanced at the mirror to make sure everything was in place.

Back at him looked not Tachi, but Uchiha Itachi.

…

Finding Sasuke was proving to be quite easy, he was clearly not trying to hide himself from her Sakura noted as she ran towards his chakra. He seemed to be alone, at least there weren't other chakra signatures anywhere nearby. This was a surprise, she had heard that Sasuke had found a new team for himself a while back.

Soon she arrived into a clearing and saw Sasuke standing there, his back facing her.

His clothes had not much changed from the last time, he was still wearing the same blue cloth around his waist, tied there with the purple rope. His white shirt was gone, in its place was a light grey one, this one had short sleeves. His hair was the same chicken nest it has always been, it did look a bit longer from the back though.

"Sasuke…" Sakura didn't know what else to say. She did have a strong itch to punch his face bloody after everything he had done to Naruto, to her, to their home. She was trying to decide if she wanted to punch him or talk to him. Punching him looked like the better idea at the moment.

"Sakura," he said, his voice had gotten deeper. He turned around to face her, his obsidian eyes had remained the same even after all these years, they were still emotionless, black pits.

"Why are you here?" Sakura asked and clenched her hands into fists, ready to attack if he did any sudden movements.

"Where is he?" Sasuke asked instead, his hand going to his sword.

"Where is… what are you talking about?" Sakura asked, her fists relaxing in her confused state.

"Where is Itachi? I saw yo-" Sasuke and Sakura both froze mid-sentence, as they felt a powerful chakra enter the field. They both turned to look at the intruder, only to find none other than Uchiha Itachi.

…

He had made it, luckily, before Sasuke could reveal seeing Sakura in his company. He released his chakra to interrupt them as he entered the field, keeping his face free of emotion.

"Little brother," he said, as was usual of him to do, trying to keep Sasukes attention away from Sakura.

"Sakura, get back," Sasuke said and turned to face him fully, sword already drawn. It looked like Sasuke still had some affection for the pinkette if he didn't want to risk her getting hurt. Sakura didn't listen to him, didn't move, just looked his way calmly.

He was surprised when she looked straight into his eyes, hers free of fear. Sakura knew the truth about the massacre, but for her to face him like no one had dared to do in years… His respect for her went up and he found it hard to tear his eyes away from her, feeling pride at her boldness.

He couldn't contain the small smirk that arose on his lips.

"Stop looking at her! You have no right!" Sasuke yelled and stepped in front of Sakura. It took a lot of willpower not to glare at Sasuke.

He had every right, she was to be his.

She was the one that dared to face him, wasn't afraid of him, saw him as Itachi. She was the one positive thing he had allowed himself to have, his chance at a normal life. And Sasuke, once again, stood in front of his happiness.

His eyes bled into mangekyou.

…

Sakura gulped as she saw Itachis eyes change form. She had heard of his eyes and how deadly they could be, but never had she imagined she'd be seeing them up close herself. It seemed like even Sasuke himself was wary of Itachi in that moment, if his tense shoulders were anything to go by. He knew first hand what those eyes could do.

"Sakura, don't look into his eyes again," Sasuke said quietly, keeping his own eyes at Itachis feet.

Itachi almost laughed out loud, but choose just to smirk instead. Sasuke was such a fool in thinking that he would hurt Sakura willingly. True, he hadn't given a reason for Sasuke to think otherwise, but neither had he given a reason for him to think that he would hurt her. He hadn't done anything when she looked into his eyes earlier. That should say a lot. Then again, Sasuke probably thought that he was just messing around.

After that line of thought, Itachi had the strangest itch to mess with his little brothers head a bit more. Call it a sweet revenge for stepping in front of Sakura right after he got a first clear look of her with his sharingan activated. He would of loved to keep looking at her clear and unblurred image.

So, for once he went with the itch.

He moved his mangekyou lit eyes to look at Sakura over Sasukes shoulder, she was looking at him with wide, unbelieving eyes.

"Foolish little brother, I'm not here for you."

…

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