Chapter Fourteen

A funeral is being held for the deaths from the attack a few days after Anakin woke up. He is in attendance after being discharged with a restriction of no training or lifting heavy objects until his wound is fully healed. In his arms is Sakura who has taken his shoulder to cry on as a picture of her parents in their jonin uniforms lay amongst numerous others in the memorial. Next to him is Naruto and Hinata holding hands with their heads down. Naruto has a bruised eye, but any other injuries he may have had have already healed. Hinata sports a brace on her wrist after spraining it. The rest of the genin spread beyond the two with various injuries. Kurenai is on the other side of Sakura with a bandage around her head and she has a hand on her only female student's shoulder for some comfort. Kakashi and Asuma are the only two from their group with little to no injuries. Though the only two who are doing worse than Anakin are Guy who has a few broken bones from using the Gates and Lee who is finally able to leave the hospital in a wheelchair until his bones properly heal. Seeing Lee brings Anakin a little relief. He made sure to visit him during his time at the hospital and Lee, while disappointed about his condition, said he held no grudges for what happened. In fact, they have already promised to have a spar again in the future when Lee is fully healed.

The sky seems to cry as the Hokage gives a eulogy for the dead. After he is done, everyone goes up to place a flower for their loved ones that is no longer with them. Anakin walks Sakura over to her parents' picture and it is too much for her to keep in. "Why? Why did they have to die? It's not fair! They were still young and I'm barely even a teenager! I don't want to be an orphan! Please open your eyes and tell me it's a joke. Please come back to me! I'm not ready for you to go!" She collapses as she breaks down, unable to even make it to the memorial to place her flower. Anakin bends down and holds her tight as she squeezes him back. "Ani I know that being a ninja means we live on the path of death, but it's too much for me to bear. Ninjas are supposed to be tough and hide their emotions, but all I can do is make a scene."

Anakin gently rocks her, "It's alright Sweetness. Today is one of the few times where we are allowed to hang up our masks and be normal. Not only that, but it's a great day for rain. So you are free to let the rain pour on down and I'll be here to pick you up when you are ready. However before you do that, do one more thing for your parents and find the strength to place the flower down. Send them off with honor and don't leave yourself to regret not being able too. Alright?" Without looking up, Sakura nods and he helps her up as they make it to the picture.

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to tell you goodbye before you left," She starts before placing down her flower. "But I will send you off with my best wishes that you are doing better wherever you are. I'll do my best to stay strong without you, but please don't be disappointed when there are days that are too much for me. I love you guys and I'll miss you." She then ends it with a kiss to both of them in the picture.

Anakin takes her back into his arms before placing a flower down in their picture as well. "I know we haven't gotten to know one another as I would have liked to, but I hope you both know that the love I have for your daughter is real and I will be the one who will be there for her days of weakness. She'll be alright and I'll make sure that she doesn't have to join you both until she's a hundred. Lastly I hope that you both find peace in the afterlife." Sakura snuggles up to his neck after he finished saying his piece and they walk back into their places.

Kurenai extends an arm out as they get back and Sakura accepts the hug. She pats the pink hair girl on her head as she soothes her. "I'm sorry about your parents dear. I can never hope to replace them, but if you ever need anything just ask. My door is always open to you." Kurenai locks eyes with Anakin and Shino, "That includes the two of you as well. The three of you are my precious students and you always will be no matter how old you get." She looks back down to the one in her arms, "Do you have a place to stay? I know you have been bunking at Ino's house, but if you need to I don't mind you moving in. I have plenty of space."

Sakura sniffs as she pulls back. "Thanks Kurenai-sensei, but Ani already offered for me to move in with him and that's probably what I'll do."

Kurenai sends a look of question to Anakin who answers, "I have additional bedrooms in my house collecting dust and offered her my parent's old room. This isn't the proper time for us to be sharing a bed so suddenly and we are still pretty young anyways."

Their sensei nods, "Alright that sounds fine to me. Though if you ever need me, just remember what I said. With the both of you being orphans, I don't mind being a parental figure if you ever need one. Despite genin being 'old enough to kill, old enough to drink and smoke' in most places, there are still other services that don't consider you as legal adults."

"Thanks," They both say as they wrap back around with each other. Kurenai gives them both a small smile before turning back to the service. They await for everyone to be done and the service to end before heading back home. Anakin makes a detour with Sakura in tow and reaches his own parent's grave. He kisses his hand and places it on the gravestone then bows his head. After that, he grabs his girlfriend's hand and they walk towards the Uchiha district. Since this place is only inhabited by a couple people, the district was left fairly untouched by the attackers seeing no point to venture to the only part of the village that was empty. They continue walking and give a passing nod to Sasuke before coming to Anakin's house. Inside are a few boxes of Sakura's belongings already moved in the living room earlier that day.

"It's still early in the evening, are you wanting something to eat or something?" Anakin asks, shutting the door behind them.

She shakes her head, "I'm not hungry. If you don't mind, I'm probably going to head straight to bed."

"Alright that's fine," He replies before kissing her cheek. "I'll see about cleaning up while you try to sleep. Remember I'm across the hall if you need anything Sweetness."

She forces a small smile, "Thanks Ani, but I think I want to be alone for now. I'll see you in the morning."


The next morning Sakura comes into the kitchen while following the smell of something sweet. She finds Anakin by the stove top with a pink 'kiss the cook' apron on. This brings a genuine smile to her face as she lands a quick kiss on his cheek. "Hey, I thought pink was my color?"

Anakin looks behind him, "It is. However, in my defense, it was my mom's color beforehand." Her face drops a bit and he recognizes it. "Coffee?" He tries changing the subject. She nods and Anakin takes a fresh pot off the maker and pours her a mug. "If you want creamer, there should be some in the fridge."

Sakura takes the mug and adds the creamer and sugar. She takes a sip which makes her relax a little as she slips into a chair. "What are you making? It smells nice."

"Pancakes," He explains as he lifts the pan from the stove.

She looks and sees that the blue is blue. This confuses her, but he then puts the pancake on a plate. He sets the plate in front of her with a look of pride. Sakura gives him a look, "What is this?"

"It's a waffle," He explained as if it's all that needed to be said. Anakin grabs a pancake for himself and sits as well before drizzling a sauce she has never seen before on his.

"But why is it blue? Usually pancakes are golden brown."

He shallows the piece in his mouth. "That's probably because I used blue milk."

She blinks in surprise. "I'm sorry, blue milk?"

"Yeah…" Anakin responds confused as to what the problem is. "It took forever to find some in this world, but with the help from my summons I don't have to scour the village for it anymore." The gears in Sakura's head grind to a halt and Anakin immediately notices it. "What? If you keep looking at me like that then your pancake is going to get cold." He pushes the sauce container towards her. "And make sure to get some muja sauce on there as well. Can't have pancakes or waffles without it."

She remains in that state for a few moments until something clicks in her head. "Wait a minute, is this what you ate in your previous life?"

"Yeah, why?" He asks genuinely.

She snorts before barreling into a fit of laughter. Anakin is still very confused about what the issue is which makes her laugh even more. "Ani…" Sakura tries to say in between laughter. "There's no such thing as blue milk in this world."

Anakin gets a look of shock that makes her continue laughing. Then he gets a face of realization, "So that's why people gave me weird looks when I asked for some at the store." This doesn't help Sakura as now she's picturing Anakin running up to people asking for blue milk.

"Ani, you yourself said that this planet is galaxies away from your old one. Why would you think we would have the same food?"

He crosses his arms and pouts, "It's not my fault you guys are lacking in the taste department."

"Oh come on Ani," She says. "You're being ridiculous. Milk is milk. There's no way your weird blue milk is better."

"It is!" He defiantly defends. "It's your white milk that's the weird one. It's all bland and has no taste."

"Is that so?" Sakura asks.

Anakin points his fork, "Yeah, just take a bite of your pancake and tell me it isn't better."

"Fine, but when I throw up from your moldy looking pancake then you're the one that's going to clean it!" She huffily takes a bite of it and chews it. Her face goes from dislike to delight every time her jaw moves.

He gets a shit eating grin watching her, "What did I say? Isn't it better?"

Sakura snaps out of it and her face goes to a look a contempt. "Eh, it's alright."

"She says as she takes another bite," Anakin narrates his girlfriend's movement.

She throws a napkin at him, "Shut up! Fine, I like it. Happy?"

"Very," He tells her, returning to his own plate. After they finish their breakfast and washing dishes, the doorbell rings. Anakin looks at his girlfriend, "Are you expecting anyone?" Sakura shakes her head. He wipes his hands and heads to the door. Opening the door, Hinata is revealed on the other side. "Oh morning Hinata, what are you doing here?"

"Good morning," She greets. "I was just coming over to see my new neighbors now that you're out of the hospital."

Anakin arches a brow, "New neighbor?"

"Ani, who is it?" Sakura asks, coming to the door. "Good morning Hinata."

"Good morning Sakura. Did you not tell him?" Hinata asks her.

A lightbulb goes off in Sakura's head. "Oh, I forgot to tell him."

"That's alright. Your mind was busy with something else so it's understandable." Hinata waves off before answering Anakin's question. "Well since I left the clan and them pretty much disowning me, I was left homeless. Sasuke came to me after the attack and offered me a place here in the Uchiha district. He said he has noticed how strong I've become and he won't allow a valuable teammate of his to live on the streets." She points three houses down from Anakin's house. "I'm now living in that little one bedroom house over there now. Naruto-kun asked why he wasn't offered a place and Sasuke said that he already has an apartment and that there are enough dobes in the district as it is."

Anakin rolls his eyes, "Of course Clanhead would say that about me. But I didn't expect him to offer you one of the empty houses. He threw a hissy fit when I moved back in."

Hinata shrugs, "Perhaps he's starting to come around on us. He's definitely much more sociable to Naruto-kun, Kakashi-sensei, and I during training or missions than when we left the academy. By the way, he said that he'd like to talk to you about what you mentioned from the chunin exams when you have the chance."

Sakura gets a confused look, "What does that mean? What do you need to discuss?"

"It's about clan stuff Sweetness. It's nothing at the moment and could end up becoming nothing, so there's no need to worry about it for now. However I'll tell you if nothing becomes something though." Anakin explains.

"Well you should probably go see him while every genin is confined to the village for the moment."

"But what about you?" He asks with a little concern.

"I'll be fine. You made my morning pretty good and I'm going to ride that high when I'm unpacking." Sakura gestures to the boxes still in the living room. "Hinata, would you mind helping me with that?"

The pale eyed girl nods, "Sure! Naruto-kun is out doing something with Jiraiya-sama anyways so I'm free today."

Sakura nods, "Great! Hey, why don't I call Ino and Tenten over and we all can have some girl time while Anakin is out."

"That would be great!" She agrees.

Sakura looks at her boyfriend, "So that's how it is today. I'll be fine, so go deal with whatever Sasuke wants."

"Alright then," Anakin says. He goes back into the house and puts on a fresh set of clothes and shoes before stopping by the living room to steal a kiss from Sakura. "I'll be back soon Sweetness. You girls don't make my house too much of a mess by the time I get back."

Sakura waves him away, "Yeah yeah I hear you. You better hurry or else you'll be dealing with an ever increasing brooding Uchiha. Love you!"

"Love you too!" He tells her before heading out the door. Anakin then jogs over to Sasuke's house and knocks on the door. His clanmate answers it. "Hey, heard you wanted to talk."

Sasuke looks around before nodding and letting him in. Anakin takes his shoes off by the door and Sasuke leads him into his father's office. "We should be good to talk in here. There are privacy seals laced around this office so no one will hear us." He sits in the chair at the desk. "Now, what did you mean when you said you had information on my father and Itachi about the massacre?"

"I don't have a whole lot, but it's who it's from that leads me to believe there is something more than your brother going mad or something." Anakin takes a seat in a chair in the corner. "So you know that I can know the thoughts of people that either aren't trained in shielding their mind or leaving their guard down?"

Sasuke's eyes get concerned for himself, "I do now. What of it?"

"Well I was talking to Jiraiya-sama about Hinata's situation and he ended up comparing the Hyugas with the Uchihas. He didn't verbally let anything out, but he finished it in his mind. Something about a plot that your father was making and how maybe there was a chance to save a few families in our clan from dying that didn't agree with your father's plan. But he worded it in a way to make me think that something happened that prevented those families from being saved." Anakin explains as best he can.

"A plot by my father?!" Sasuke asks with a little anger. "My father would never. It's Itachi that had a plot."

Anakin puts his hands up, "Whoa, hold your horses there. There's no need to be so defensive about it. Like I said, it isn't much but if someone such as a sannin is hinting at something like that, we should perhaps give it a little thought first. I would hate to criminalize the wrong person."

"What do you mean by that? Are you saying Itachi didn't murder our entire clan?" His eyes narrow with anger.

"What? No, why would you think I would say that? If you remember from the scars I showed from the Wave, he was the one who gutted me. I remember that clearly." Anakin says with annoyance.

Sasuke winces a little and backs off. "Oh, right I forgot about that. I apologize for that. I've just lived these last years with nothing but hatred for him that I forget you were a victim of it as well. Perhaps more of one than me, seeing as you almost died by his hands. But can you explain what you meant about criminalizing the wrong person? It's obvious he did it, so why should we worry about placing blame on him?"

"Well I've done a lot of thinking about that over the years. You see, there has to be a reason for him to do that."

"He already told me the reason, to test himself." Sasuke answers.

Anakin shakes his head, "No I don't believe that is the true reason. If he truly wanted to test himself, then why kill everyone when we are all asleep? Why kill the clan children as well? The weak, sick, or injured? That's no way to test one's self. A better way to test himself is to challenge the Hokage instead. There is no one stronger than Lord Third in the village at the time. There's also the issue with you being alive."

"He left me alive before he wanted me to get stronger and come at him with all my hatred."

"But that is the part that makes the least sense. What's so important about you becoming stronger and fighting him with hatred? Some think it's because you're his family, but if that is the case then your parents would have lived as well. That brings us back to the plot your father possibly had."

The gears turn in Sasuke's head as he rests his chin in his hands, "If he really did have a plot then Itachi not letting them live might make sense, but then that still begs the question as to why he let me live. Does all he really wants is me to fight him when I'm stronger?"

Anakin snaps a finger gun at him, "Now you're thinking. I've heard of something similar to this happening before."

Sasuke's eyes look up at him. "You have heard about something killing their whole clan and leaving their brother alive to later fight him?"

"Eh, something along those lines." Anakin answers. "You see, I've mentioned about me being a Jedi before coming here. Well the order of the Jedi was once completely wiped out overnight by one of their own, and that person was the person I'm named after, my grandfather."

"Wait, your grandfather committed a massacre? That's actually shocking to hear. I can't see you coming from someone that would do that."

Anakin nods, "Yeah he did. The Jedi Order numbered in the tens of thousands during his days as one. Their rivals, the Sith, offered my grandfather a way to save his wife from death if he betrayed his order and joined him. My grandfather accepted and, with some help, the Jedi Order was made pretty much extinct. It was so effective that many people believed them to be a myth twenty years later. Anyways, there are two reasons why I'm telling you this. One is because there could be a reason that made Itachi do what he did. The other is that he couldn't have done it without help."

"Okay I can maybe see there being another reason, but you think he had help?" The Uchiha heir questions.

"Yes, because everything was too perfect for it to go as smoothly as it did." He confirms. "Think about it, there just happened to be no guards anywhere near the Uchiha District that night that had to take at least an hour? Not only that, but he somehow managed to slip past and fight every Uchiha shinobi in the district by himself? Sure Itachi was an anbu, but there was no way he could have taken out almost a hundred jonin and chunin level shinobi all with a sharingan?" Anakin shakes his head, "Not likely. He definitely had some kind of help. If we want to get justice for our clan, we need to know everything and get everyone involved in it."

Sasuke sits quietly and pounders on what he has been told. Could there be a different reason for Itachi killing everyone? Do I dare hope for a justifiable reason for my brother to be able to get him back? I want to just tell Anakin that he is wrong and continue my current path, but everything he is saying is making too much sense. I can't rule out the idea that Itachi had an accomplice. Avenging my clan would mean nothing if someone got away scot free. He sighs, "Alright I made up my mind. I'll follow along with your idea for the moment, but we uncover nothing that doesn't disprove what we already know, then we do things my way and kill Itachi. Deal?" He holds out his hand.

Anakin stares at the hand for a moment before shaking it. "While I don't want to go all murder happy on your brother, it's only fair that I follow your lead if mine proves fruitless. Though I'd prefer if we go your way, we set out to arrest him instead. He could have valuable information for being a missing-nin all these years."

"We'll see how it plays out when the time comes." Sasuke says after retracting his hand. "So since this is your idea, where do you think we should start?"

Anakin looks around the room, "Well since Jiraiya-sama thinks your father had a plot, then right here."

Sasuke holds a hand up, "Um, no. Sorry but I can't let you go through my father's things. He was the clan head and had a lot of important documents and research I'm not comfortable letting anyone see. I'll go through his things."

"Then where should I start if not here?" Anakin asks, a little annoyed.

"Itachi had a friend called Shisui. He died and left a suicide note saying he crushed his eyes before hand. Everyone accepted it as is, but there were times that a few anbu ninjas were seen around his house and asking questions about him. They were strange though as they wore anbu mask, but there was a weird symbol on it. Of course they couldn't get in without one of the guards seeing it. Now that you made me think about things, I think there might have been something suspicious about the whole situation. That was about the time Itachi started acting differently as well. He grew distanced with our parents and the clan as a whole. Perhaps start there." Sasuke offers before opening a file cabinet. "If you find anything, bring it here first and don't tell anyone. If you're right about it, we don't want the accomplice knowing what we are doing. The keys to all the houses are in a box in the closet."

Anakin goes to the closet and finds the labeled key. "If you don't mind, I'm going to take a few more keys as well. I might as well check a few more houses to see if there is anything to be gained from there." Sasuke grunts in confirmation.

Anakin leaves the house and heads straight for Shisui's house. He notices that this house is notably more beat up than the rest of the houses. Not in a run down kind of way, more of an intentionally damaged way. There are many signs of people attempting to gain entry, but they all appear to only be half done. Most likely from the strange anbu that were seen around the place. Anakin guesses that whoever wanted in here, gave up on whatever their pursuit was since they had plenty of time to break in after the massacre. He steps inside and the place is noticeably abandoned. Dust and cobwebs litter the house as well as the place smelling of rotted food. This confuses him as his own house wasn't as bad when he moved back into it. There was no moldy food or as many dust bunnies. Anakin lifts his shirt to his nose just in case and begins shifting through the house.

Just outside of the district, there are a couple of figures wearing anbu masks with a symbol watch as Anakin enters the house. The older shinobi looks at the younger pale member, "Send a report to Danzo-sama about the Uchiha kid investigating Shisui's house." The younger nods then pulls out a paint brush and a blank paper. He scribbles down the report and the words turn into a bird before flying off the paper towards its destination. They both see Anakin's head bolts up through the window of the house and he begins to look around. "He must have sensed our presence. This confirms that he has sensor like abilities. Let's quickly relocate to a new position just in case."

Back in the house, Anakin stops looking around. Strange, it felt as if I'm being watched. I've never been one to doubt the Force and it hasn't led me astray yet. It must be from the ones that wanted in from all those years ago. There is definitely something here they either want or trying to hide. I better hurry up before they decide that I'm too much of a risk to live. Anakin uses the Force to then shut all the blinds in the house and he also locks the door. I know I need to hurry, but I also gotta be thorough.

"Hmm," The older shinobi mused. "He definitely knows something is up."

The younger reaches for his tanto, "Should we eliminate him?"

The first grabs the younger's arm, "Not without Danzo-sama saying so. That Uchiha brought a lot of attention and fame to himself for his actions during the exams and the attack on the village. Not only that, he has a close relationship with the Hokage and the Third would launch an investigation into his death. It's too risky to kill him without it seeming like it was targeted. Best to get him in a situation to make it seem like an accident or make a mission seem like it went wrong."

"So surveillance until otherwise, got it." The second says.

Anakin has gone through the summoning process to speak to his main summon. "Hey Anakin!" The wistie greets. "Have you summoned me to hangout or do you need me for something?"

"I'm afraid it's the latter," He tells her.

Issillda sighs, "Figured as much. You now, you got to let my sisters and I out sometime soon again. We have a few that are overreacting by faking symptoms of withdrawals from not getting laughter and it's driving the queen crazy. Plus you have worried everyone there since you summoned the gorax. He told us about what you both did and frankly it has dried up any fun energy we had left."

"I apologize about that and I think I have an idea that will give the wisties their fix."

"Our fix? We aren't drug addicts, Anakin."

"You're the ones that are suffering with withdrawals, so that sounds like a drug to me." The summoner tells her.

Issillda brings her hand to her head and shakes it. "You're impossible, but if you do have something for us then I can bear with your lame jokes. Anyways, what were you needing?"

"Well…" Anakin quickly gives the wistie a run down of what is happening.

"Uh huh," Issillda nods along. "So you're needing a good infiltrator with great stealth to tail the shinobi that are watching you just outside?"

"Exactly. I know that there are many anbu missions that are never officially recorded, but I have a feeling that these guys are not with the Hokage. If I can figure out who is leading them, then perhaps there might be some information about our investigation. Since you spend the most time with the others than I, you might be able to find the species that is best suited for this." Anakin explains.

"Alright I'll see what I can figure out. I already have a few in mind, but I'll need to talk to them first. Before I go, can I ask what it is you have for my sisters and I?" The wistie asks.

"Well there are a lot of kids that have lost someone in the attack and some excitement from you guys might be exactly what they need," He offers.

Her light burns brighter, "Children? Really?! Oh they produce the best joy and laughter a wistie could ever ask for! Alright, for a promise like that I will make sure to find the perfect species for this mission!" She then disappears in a cloud of smoke quicker than Anakin could say bye.

He then starts going throughout the house and searching through anything of interest. Anakin doesn't turn up anything from the living room and decides the places he should check first is Shisui's bedroom before checking out the office. He makes his way to the room and opens it to see that despite the dust, it is in the best condition of the house. The bed is neatly made, nothing on the floor other than a few pens, and the shelves still hold strong on the wall. "Pardon the intrusion," Anakin excuses himself as he enters the room. He then starts at the shelves and tries to find any clues for anything. A few books and what looks to be the beginning stages of a jutsu idea is all he could find. He has no idea what the jutsu is supposed to be, so he left it alone and continued his search. Nothing of interest is found on the nightstand or the desk, but the box under the bed that had a few magazines with some pages stuck together. He quickly burnt that last one with a small fire jutsu and ran to wash his hands three times afterwards. Anakin returns to the bedroom for one final attempt and searches the closet. He sighs as he puts everything back where they were.

Anakin is about to leave the room when a thought comes to him. He activates his sharingan and scans the room once more. His theory is proved fruitful as he notices an oddity of chakra lacing the room, as if things are not as they appear to be. A genjutsu? Clever. He places his hands together, "Kai!" The chakra disperses and at first it seems as though it's the same. However he sees that there is something hidden under the nightstand. Anakin lifts the stand with the Force and finds a safe installed into the ground with a few seals on it. I don't trust my ability to disarm those seals at the moment, but I can't leave the safe for those anbu to find. He sets the nightstand away and focuses on the safe itself. With the Force, he rips the safe out of the floor with the seals still on it. The safe is fairly small, likely only made to have documents stored into it, and he can carry it with one hand. Anakin does his best to fix the hole in the floor and places the nightstand back. He then does his best to recreate the genjutsu before placing one on himself so it looks as if he left empty handed. Anakin leaves the house and locks it behind him. He notes the presence of the two onlookers, I'm still technically injured and getting into a fight might reopen the wound. Best to make it seem like I'm not paying attention to my surroundings and disappointed about finding nothing. Anakin starts his charade and leaves the property to head back to Sasuke.

The younger onlooker notices a bird made of paint flying towards him and opens a blank scroll. It flies into it and the bird shifts into words on the page. "HQ said they want us to start monitoring the Uchiha while they send a different team to check the house. They will send new orders at a later time depending on what we report."

The older one nods, "I thought as much. Start working on some animals to infiltrate the house to find out what they are truly doing." The younger one gives a confirmation and they start to trail Anakin.


Danzo fiddles with a device in his hands. It is apparently a communicator of sorts that he has never seen before in this world. He hesitates on using it since it could easily lead to his downfall, but with the Uchiha boy sniffing around for something, he needs to be sure there are no obstacles on this path to replace the peace minded Hokage. Though with Hiruzen surviving the attack from Orochimaru, he is left with little choice. Danzo hits the button on it and a few moments later a blue holo-projection of a hooded figure appears on it.

"Danzo," The figure greets, "I was beginning to think you rejected my offer of friendship."

Danzo disregards the statement. "I have half a mind to destroy this device to insure that I am not linked to you. But with my previous plan ruined, I see I need to expand my horizon. Let's make a deal, Darth Enkel."

"I'm listening."

"Help me gain the Hokage position, and I'll give you the kyuubi jinchuuriki that your organization is wanting." Danzo offers with no real intent of fulfilling his end of the deal.

"That's an interesting proposal. However, what makes helping you become Hokage less trouble than us attacking the Leaf and taking him by force?"

"For one I know your organization isn't anywhere near ready for capturing jinchuurikis and gives us enough time to get the brat hidden and far enough away that you won't ever be able to touch him."

"Are you sure about that?" The Sith asks with a hint of malice and amusement. "The Leaf has been left weakened by a series of unfortunate events over the years. The kyuubi attack, the Uchiha Massacre, and lastly with the recent invasion that had my master resurrected in a weakened state but able to fend off everyone in your village. It was only because of outside intervention that the Leaf survived that day. No, Konoha is weak and doesn't have the necessary strength to even resist an assault by my organization as we are now. So I'll only ask you once more, what makes helping you less trouble than making the Hidden Leaf Village only a footnote in the history books?"

"Anakin Uchiha," Danzo simply replies.

This catches Enkel's attention. "Anakin? Orochimaru mentioned him before. Tell me, did the boy go by another name?"

"He called himself Solo when he left his clan."

"Solo, huh?" Enkel then mutters quietly into his hand, "I just can't seem to get away from that family even when I'm galaxies away from my former master." He then returns his attention to the caller. "You've gotten my attention. Give me a run down on the happenings of the village and I'll see if I can't get you the hat."


The two Uchihas meet up later that day with each other's findings. "I'll be honest," Sasuke begins, "I didn't expect there to actually be something at Shisui's place, let alone an hidden safe. Though now we just have to figure out what seals these are and how to disarm them."

Anakin looks the safe over, "Without having to involve someone else, that is the hardest part."

Sasuke shakes his head, "No more people will be involved for now. We have time and the less people who know, the less the chance something obstructs our investigation."

"Speaking of which, I think I had an encounter with those anbu you mentioned." Anakin adds. "I couldn't see them, but I felt their presence in the Force as if they were watching me. They tried tailing me afterwards, but I took a detour to the most busiest part of the village and created a clone for them to follow while I got lost among the crowd with a transformation. I also had one of my summons start tailing them to find out more about my stalkers."

Sasuke scowls, "This will complicate things, but if the strange anbu are still hanging around then we must be venturing into something big. Luckily my father had this house locked up pretty tight in seals and all I need to do is reactivate it and include you as one of the only people able to enter."

"Sounds like a good idea. I'll see about posting a few of my summons as lookouts and guards as well. They all want a chance to venture out at least once and we can ever have have too much security. I will also start studying up on seals as well. I think Naruto has a few beginner's guides to seals from the Uzumaki clan I can borrow, though I think bringing him in would be better eventually. Not only are the Uzumakis the best at sealing jutsus, he is currently the apprentice of the best sealer in the village." The young Jedi informs.

The heir of the Uchiha clan makes a reluctant expression. "You make a good point, but at the moment Naruto has only started learning it and is nowhere close to using it in practice. Let's give Naruto some time to get a better grasp before we think about seeking his help. We can worry about the safe another day. Besides, I have also found a few things that we can delve into now."

The other Uchiha perks up, "Oh what have you found?"

Sasuke gestures for Anakin to move his chair to the desk where he has laid out some documents and a notebook. "It appears you were right about my father having a plot. I was flipping through his journal and he stated many times about his anger of how the village has been treating our clan. Supposedly our clan was only given the police force just so the Second Hokage could be rid of us and to make us think we had power within the village. Not only that, but we were also delegated to the outskirts of the village to keep us from the village. Many in our clan believed that the Second still harbored hatred for our clan after the wars between our clans and did everything to deprive us of much."

"I've fought Lord Second and I felt no such hatred coming from him about me being an Uchiha. In fact, the whole time he was actively giving me any advantage to survive against him. Even allowed me to copy a lot of his water jutsus as well. And when he was sealed, he gave me some praise and words of advice. I did not feel any hint of him harboring such emotions." Anakin defends.

Sasuke blinks in surprise, "Really? That is not the impression I got from my father or anyone else in our clan."

"Who's to say that many in our clan didn't retain such hatred for the Senjus and refused to believe Lord Second didn't have an ulterior motive? I'm sure you're well aware about how us Uchihas rely on emotions. Hell it's the sole factor for first awakening our sharingan, but I digress. Let's continue on with what your father had to say."

"Right," He turns back to the journal and flips a few pages. "It wasn't until the kyuubi attack that things got worse. It seems as if the village started to point fingers at the Uchihas for the reason it happened. All because everyone knows the story about Madara controlling the demon fox to fight the First Hokage." Sasuke then pulls forward a couple of letters and points to one. "Here is a copy of a letter my father sent to the Hokage to silence the rumors." He points to another, "This is the reply by the Hokage's office saying he will see to doing what he can. But apparently it didn't do much as many in the village had already started to distance themselves from the clan." Sasuke then brings out a couple documents and turns a few more pages in the journal. "This is what worries me the most. Father and the clan council had begun talks about dealing with mistreatment the village is said to have made towards our clan. They discussed many options such as protesting or leaving the village, but the option that came up the most was a revolt." He points to a document with numerous signatures voting for the revolt.

Anakin's heart drops when he sees the name of his father in favor of it. "Dad you wouldn't…" He scans the list more in fear of seeing the other in agreement as well. He sighs in relief on seeing his mother voting against it. His eye then looks back towards his father's signature. "Were things really that bad for you to agree with this?" Sasuke watches as he seeps into a sad state and hesitantly places a hand on his shoulder. Anakin can feel the awkwardness of the arm. "I appreciate the thought, but I know you don't feel comfortable doing this. I'll be fine, I just needed a moment. Let's get back to it."

Sasuke retracts his arm as quickly as he could. "Thank Kami for that. I don't think I could do that for any longer. Anyways the clan started to prepare for the revolt and had a lot of meetings for it, but before that could take place," He flips the journal again to a blood stained page. "The rest is what we currently know. We still have no lead as to if Itachi had an ulterior motive or if he had an accomplice. I now have a couple of ideas of his actual motives, but without proof there is no reason to voice it."

"Let's think about what we found." Anakin leans back and thinks it over. "Well we figured out that our clan was preparing to cause a forceful takeover of the village, so that's what Jiraiya-sama meant when he thought about possibly saving a few families that didn't agree to this. Though as to why he compared the Uchihas to the Hyugas is still a mystery to me. The Hyugas seem to have a decent amount of pull within the village and there should be no reason for them to revolt."

"Although Hinata did make some statements in the finals that hinted she will cause something within their clan to crumble." Sasuke weighs in.

"That was after I read Jiraiya-sama's mind. However, you made a good point. Hinata just greatly insulted and devalued the Hyuga clan in front of not just this village, but other villages watching as well. And I don't know about you, but I've noticed that some within the village have started to distance themselves or glare at the Hyugas now." Anakin notes.

"History tends to repeat itself at times. She may have very well started a dangerous chain of events."

The Jedi agrees, "Very much indeed. While I don't care for the ass sticks, the village can't afford losing another clan, especially one that possesses one of the three great doujutsus."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here," Sasuke tells him. "This is all speculation and we might be reading too much into it. Perhaps we should retire for now and think about what we know and meet again when the other finds something."

Anakin nods and stands up. "I'll go with that for now. However, if speculation becomes fact, I will be doing everything I can for Hinata."

"Of course," Is all Sasuke has to say about that. "You can leave the safe here with me. No offense, but I doubt your house is as secure as the clan leader's house."

"I can't argue with that," He agrees. Anakin takes his leave for the day and heads back to his own house.


"Whew!" Sakura exclaims after emptying the last box into her new room.

"Man you really had a lot of stuff," Tenten tells her.

Sakura shrugs, "Well if I can say one thing about my parents, they spared nothing when it came to me."

Ino nods to this, "It's true. Despite my being an heiress to a clan, I was very envious whenever I hung out at Sakura's house when we were kids."

Sakura smiles slightly, "Yeah it's still tough to believe they're gone."

"How are you holding up?" Hinata asks the pinkette.

"Better than one would expect. If it wasn't for Ani, I'd be a lot worse off."

"Oh, Ani is it?" Tenten teases. She turns to Ino and grabs her hands. "'Oh Ani, I've been so worried lately.'"

Ino plays into it with a poor attempt of a male's voice. "'Don't worry Sweetness, with my love you won't have to worry any more.'"

Sakura goes to the two and breaks them up with a blush, "Alright cut that out!"

Hinata giggles behind her hand. "Don't be so harsh on them. It's not our fault they are still single." The three quickly turn their heads to the typically shy girl saying something they never expected her to say. Hinata tilts her head in confusion, "Hm?" The three look at each other before laughing and Hinata quickly follows suit. They then walk out the room and make their way towards the living room.

Ino looks towards the third bedroom of Anakin's house and points to it. "So is that the office room?"

Sakura shakes her head. "No, he said that his parents used an oversized closet space for the office."

This confuses the heiress. "Why would they use a closet if they have a perfectly good room to use right here? Is this room being used for something else?"

"Um, I actually don't know." Sakura answers truthfully walking towards the room. "Anakin-kun never told me what this room was for. All he said about it was that he wants to leave it alone."

"Do you think he's hiding something?" Tenten asks mischievously. "Perhaps loverboy has a hobby he is too embarrassed to show."

"I don't believe so. He's pretty open about himself with me. Let's just head to the living room and leave it alone." Sakura tries convincing them.

It proves to be no avail for Ino or Tenten as their minds are already set on uncovering the new discovery. Ino moves to the door and grabs the handle. "But aren't you at least a little interested?"

"I am," Sakura admits, "However I don't want to break his trust by snooping through something he doesn't want known."

"Yeah, Anakin is a great friend and everyone is entitled to have their own little secrets." Hinata agrees.

Ino rolls her eyes, "Come on, where is your sense of adventure? Tenten you're with me right?"

"Of course! Aren't couples supposed to not keep secrets from each other?" Tenten says.

Sakura deadpan stares at the two of them, "Are the only two people in this house with no relationship experience really trying to give me relationship advice?"

Ino flinches at the words. "Okay, one, that hurts. Two, you girls can just stay out here while Tenten and I check it out then!" She turns the knob before anyone can stop her and the room comes into view.

They all stop in their tracks peering into it not expecting what they find. Inside is shown to be a pink nursery. A crib in the corner, a changing area with diapers and powder that looks to have been there for years, and a wall of various pictures. The pictures are of Anakin's family organized by months with his mother's stomach being noticeably bigger in each month. The pictures extend eight months with the ninth month having the words 'Welcome to the family Hanako!' and a date of July Thirtieth. They stare at the wall before Sakura gasps in realization. "Anakin-kun has a picture downstairs of his family and he mentioned that they received some good news when they took it. His mother must have been pregnant. But that means…"

"Anakin never mentioned he had a sibling nor do they have a gravestone next to his family for one." Hinata says thoughtfully. "Wait a minute! The date here must be when the baby was born, but that was five years ago so why wasn't there a…" Her face falls after she finds her answer.

Ino looks at the pale-eyed girl with concern. "What? What happened five years ago…" She stops when she also figures it out. Tenten follows shortly after.

Hinata is the one that voices the answer. "The Uchiha Massacre happened that same year on July Twenty-second. His sister was an unborn child."

Tears fill Sakura's eyes as she wipes them and leaves the room. "I can't. It's too much!" The other three agree and leave the room as well.


"I look forward to how our friendship spans out," Darth Enkel tells Danzo before turning off his communicator and tucking it away. He looks out of the tower in Amegakure and watches the rain pour downward. The air next to him spirals and a man in an orange mask with one eye hole appears next to him. "Ah, Madara, so nice of you to stop by."

Madara stares at the Sith Lord. "Making deals behind my back?"

"Yes," Enkel freely admits. "Konoha will prove to be our main threat when it comes time to collect our subjects. All I am doing is making sure they are weakened when we assault them."

"That is hardly necessary." A newcomer walks in with orange hair and piercing all over his face. A woman with blue hair walks next to him. "I will deal with the capture of the kyuubi when it comes time. They won't be able to withstand a god."

Enkel laughs at this statement. "Please, while you may be a god compared to most in this world, you are no threat to me, Pain." This ticks the girl off, but she holds her tongue. "Besides, from what I am told, Itachi didn't do a very good job in wiping out their clan."

"Yes we are all aware that his little brother was left alive. He may end up proving valuable in time." Madara states, clearly annoyed.

"I'm not talking about little Sasuke," He corrects. "I'm talking about another Uchiha boy."

This gets Madara's attention quickly as his sharingan is shown visually. "Another? How is it that we have not known about this after so long?"

"Apparently he went into hiding and changed his name. A clever idea if you ask me."

Pain dismisses it, "It is no matter. All shinobi will know Pain before long."

Enkel waves his finger, "Not this one. I have a feeling that even you would have trouble if he is allowed to grow."

The girl speaks up, "And why is that? We are well aware of the Uchiha's strength and the only one of their clan that could possibly put up any resistance to Pain is Madara."

"Because Konan, he wields the same power as my own." This causes Pain's emotionless face to raise his brows and concern comes over Konan.

"Two of you having that power is bad enough, we don't need an Uchiha with that kind of power." She states.

Enkel nods in agreement, "That is my thoughts exactly. I've just made a deal with Danzo that will both capture the kyuubi and eliminate the threat the Uchiha boy has."

Madara chimes in, "Danzo will likely not hold up his end of the bargain and will only use you to help him rise to power."

"I know, in fact I plan to betray him as well. I'll even bring you that eye you so desperately want as a souvenir as well." The Sith Lord tells the Uchiha.

"As long as we end up with the kyuubi, I do not care about the methods in the end." Pain declares before leaving with Konan in tow.

"Speaking of betrayal, when will we be doing the same to them, Obito?" Enkel asks.

"When we have what we need for the juubi, I will force Pain to use the Samsara of Heavenly

Life Technique to revive Madara." Obito confesses.

Enkel nods, "Hopefully it isn't too much longer. I've grown to miss his presence." Obito does respond as he uses Kami on himself to teleport himself away. The remaining member then turns to the shadow in the room. "You may come out now."

A feminine figure comes from the shadows and kneels, "Master."

Enkel gestures, "Rise. Speak your mind, I can feel your thoughts bouncing around."

The apprentice stands up. She has three brown hair buns and wears a black linen wrapped outfit with a cloak and hood. "I heard you gave Orochimaru Grandfather's body."

"I did." Enkel admits to her. "He told me about how the Uchiha boy was able to use the Force. I gave him the body in hopes of testing if it was true." He watches as his apprentice tries to figure out her emotions. "Are you troubled about what I've done?"

She shakes her head. "It's just that I've spent a good part of my childhood abandoned by my parents. While I know Grandfather had no love for me, he was still family and having his body being used as an experiment doesn't sit right with me."

The Master nods along. "Yes I don't doubt that. It was not a decision I made likely, however I ensured that Orochimaru would never be able to unlock the secrets about the Force. I gave him power when he asked for it, but he never said he wanted to control such power." He places a hand on her shoulder, "When I found you on the sands of Jakku, you were nothing, a nobody. Now look at you, the granddaughter of Darth Sidious. You have grown much over the years."

She bows her head, "You have grown much more than I, Cousin."


"I'm home!" Anakin calls out as he closes the front door of his house. He finds his girlfriend by herself on the couch with her knees tucked into herself. "Did everyone already go home?" She slowly nods. He sighs, "I hoped to speak to Hinata, but I can wait until tomorrow." He gets no response from Sakura and he gets worried. He walks over to her and sits beside her. "Hey are you-" Anakin gets interrupted when she suddenly springs him into a hug.

She holds him tightly, "Ani I'm sorry."

He returns the hug, "It's alright. You're going through a tough time and I told you I'd be here if you ever needed it. "

Sakura shakes her head and sniffs, "It's not that." She raises her head and he is shown her puffy red eyes. "We know about Hanako." His eyes widen in surprise as she continues. "I'm sorry Ani, we were heading back from unpacking and Ino got interested in the third room and opened the door. I'm sorry I didn't stop her and entered the room you told me not to."

Anakin takes a minute to process before heavily sighing. "It's alright, I couldn't keep it from you forever. I just wished that I could have told you myself. I'm upset about what you all did, but not enough to be angry at you." He shifts on the couch to face outwards. "I always wanted a younger sibling and despite living two lives, I never had one. I was the youngest in both. When It comes to Hanako though, her situation is the oddest thing for me. I wasn't able to properly grieve for her when she and the rest of my family died, but when I gained those memories, I felt a mix of loss and displacement. It's hard to grieve for someone you never met or interacted with, but I visibly remember talking to her through Mom's belly and being very excited for her. It's like I both knew her and didn't. It's hard to put it into words really."

Sakura pulls him into her chest and wraps her arms around him. "I don't know how you do it sometimes. You have experienced more loss than anyone I know, but you still are able to power through it. Meanwhile when I lost only two people, it felt like my world had ended."

"Everyone handles death differently." He told her. "When Chewy died, I felt completely guilty about it since I am the one he sacrificed himself to save. It didn't help at all when Father also blamed me for his death, but it was the only way he could try to grieve and keep pushing on. Though being trained in the Force helps in dealing with emotions as well."

"How? I thought you said that the Force is easily influenced by emotion and it makes the Dark Side so much easier to fall into."

"I did, however through mediation, we are able to release our emotions into the Force. It helps at times when you need a clear head."

"Can you teach me?" She then asks.

"Sure," Anakin sits up and turns towards her while crossing his feet. She mimics what he does as he takes her hands. "Now let this be the beginning of your training."


Author's Note: Well not much in this chapter other than it being set up for what things to come in the future. I don't normally do scenes in this story that doesn't have Anakin in it, but it's been quite a bit of chapters and I haven't even introduced the antagonists yet. If you can deduce who Enkel is, I will applaud you silently.

DS2010: I'm glad you enjoyed the fight! I always had the idea of Anakin Skywalker coming to face Sidious from the moment I started writing this and glad that I finally reached this point!

dragon44pride: What Skywalker spoke to the Third about will be revealed soon.

Zekariah C.L. Schron: I'll go a head and say that Darth Enkel is an already established character, but his name is my creation as his character wasn't a Sith Lord in Star Wars. I have left hints about who he really is, though I don't think many will know about him on the is of their heads as he is a Legends character that only existed for a couple of books before disappearing without a trace.

Well that is it for me! Thanks for reading and I will talk at y'all next time!