Chapter 3: Hey, So Glad You Could Make It

Sasuke looked at Sakura in shock. "When did you have a kid?"

Sakura froze up inside. What the Hell? Couldn't he see it? Artemis's hair, her stature, her chin, her forhead, her nose, her voice, all his. Didn't he see it?

She sighed. "About nine months after you left."

A look of dawning comprehension enveloped his features. "Wh-what? That girl? She's..."

"A little Uchiha."

Sasuke looked at Sakura for several minutes. "But, if she's mine, then why didn't Tsubame or Artemis say anything?"

"Because they don't know. As far as they're concerned, one of my missions went horribly wrong, which lead to me becoming pregnant."

"Why-" Sasuke said, a million questions buzzing in his head. He didn't know which to ask first.

"Why didn't I tell anybody she is your kid? To keep her safe! If anybody knew, she'd be the target of so many people, including Orochimaru and your brother. Besides, she would be treated differently then the other kids, rejected. I could not let that happen. Your reputation is a burden no one should carry but yourself. I would not let whatever you did or might do affect my child. For all I knew, you could have ended up slaughtering millions of people. I could not let Artemis have to deal with that. And, there is another thing..."

Sasuke's heart tightened up. Oh God. "The Seal," he choked out.

Sakura nodded. "I had to lie and say she was sick whenever it took hold. I could not let people try to experiment on her like she's some lab rat. It would be wrong."

"Of course," Sasuke said in a hollow voice as he looked away from Sakura at a small spider climbing up a door frame. "Are you going to tell her now?"

Sakura smacked him. "WELL I DON'T HAVE CHOICE NOW DO I? YOU'RE BACK! SHE HAS TO KNOW NOW! WHAT? DO YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST STROLL BACK INTO MY LIFE, DISREGARD YOUR DAUGHTER, PRETENDING SHE IS NOT YOURS WHILE I CONTINUE TO RAISE HER BY MYSELF? DON'T YOU WANT TO HAVE ANY PART IN HER LIFE? DO YOU REALLY THINK YOU CAN JUST DECIEVE HER LIKE THAT, AND NOT TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR HER! SHE'S YOUR DAUGHTER! YOU HAVE MISSED SO MUCH OF HER LIFE, AND NOW YOU JUST PLAN ON WATCHING THE REST OF IT PLAY OUT FROM THE SIDELINES, HIDDEN FROM HER? YOU THINK YOU CANLET HER SEE YOU EVERY DAY, OBLIVIOUS TO THE FACT SHE IS YOUR OWN FLESH AND BLOOD? hOW COULD YOU BE SO HEARTLESS? YOU'RE BACK, YOU'VE KILLED ITACHI, GOTTEN YOUR STUPID REVENGE! NOW IT'S TIME TO PAY ATTENTION TO SOMEONE OTHER THEN YOURSELF! YOU HAVE NO REASON TO KEEP THIS FROM HER, AND NO RIGHT!"

"Oh, like you do?" Sasuke asked her angrily. "You kept this from her too, you know. I did not even knoe of her existance until now. How do you expect me to tell her something like this? You're her the one she knows better. And now she's gonna know you've lied to her her entire life. Whose to say she'll accept me as her father? She doesn't know me. In fact, neither do you anymore. But you have to do it, you're all she knows, I don't have the right to tell her. And for the record, Itachi is not dead. I didn't get my revenge. I came back to protect Konoha from the Akatsuki. They wish to destroy it and everyone in it. But Itachi made a deal with them. As long as I reside in Konoha, they cannot attack it."

Sakura looked at him, stunned. "W-what? Why?"

Sasuke sighed. "They wish to destroy every one of the hidden villages do they can destroy the defenses of every country. However, one thing they covet is the Sharingan, they can't afford for it to die out. Unfortunately, Itachi...is infertile, so I am the only chance for it to live on. My brother made a deal that Konoha would serve as my haven and where the sharingan bloodline would reside. They don't dare attack my village if I am here, they cannot risk me getting hurt. But now... this complicates things."

"What?"

"Basically, I have had to put my revenge on hold to keep the Akatsuki from taking over the village, since I am the only carrier of the Sharingan, Konoha is spared."

Sakura's mind went haywire, trying to take this in. But she was interupted by the sound of the stereo. Sober Love's cover of 'Hit That.' Oh God. Then it dawned on her.

"Mommy! Guess what Kakashi-Sansei showed me!" The six-year-old's voice squealed as she burst through the door.

Sakura turned around, smiling, to face her little girl. For a second, she saw her litle girl's normally green eyes flash red.

Suddenly, she was sitting in a field, it was night time, and the sky was cloudy. Artemis sat next to her on a picnic blanket. Then, suddenly, she was back in the living room.

Artemis wiped sweat from her brow, her eyes turning back to green. She beamed up at her mother, panting heavily. "See? Isn't that cool?"

Sakura stared at her daughter in astonishment. Jesus Christ, the girl was only six. How could she be able to do that at that age? Looked like she took after her uncle. At that thought, Sakura gulped. Hope fully that was the ONLY thing in which her daughter took after her uncle.

"Mommeeeee! Isn't that cool?" Artemis whined,pulling at her mother's arm.

Sakura looked down into her little girl's bright, impatient eyes. "Yes," she said, smiling. "That is very cool. But sweetie, best not tell too many people about this, ok?"

Sakura looked at Sasuke uneasily. "There is a slight problem."

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Artemis left Matsuri's garage alone, grumbling. It had not been the best rehearsal. Matsuri was still mad about he night before, so his playing was not up to par. He kept on messing up, which set the whole rythm off, which of course caused Meisha to have trouble following him on drums. And of course, Artemis herself was very agitated over her mother's behavior, so she reacted more strongly than usual to this problem. It was so bad they all decided to cut the set four songs short and call it a night.

Matsuri lived at the edge of town, near the forest's entrance,a handy location if you wanted to train. Artemis looked at her watch. It was only 4:45. She could get about an hour's training in before heading home. Sure, she didn't have her equipment, but she could practice some taijutsu, and maybe sit down with her guitar and work on some songs.

She strode into to woods and found the training grounds, completely vacant. Good.She put down her guitar, tied her hair up,and focussed her chakra. Instantly, she felt the presence of another. She looked around, but found nothing. "Ok, you can come out, Itachi."

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Itachi watched the girl practice her moves in interest. She never failed to surprise him. His little Artemis was a phenomenon, he had known that since she was little and sensed his prescence when she was only four years old. She had been on a picnic with her mother and that blonde woman.

Artemis looked up from her rice ball in alarm. Itachi tensed up. Had they felt him? The two women beside her did not seem to.

"Arty, what is it?" The blonde woman asked her.

"Someone's here," the child answered.

The blonde woman looked at Sakura. "You feel anything? I don't."

Sakura concentrated for a few seconds. "Nothing. Looks like Artemis has a little imaginary friend. Don't you Arty?"

Itachi relaxed. Good, at least his sharingan was not failing.

"Oh, how cute!" The blonde woman squealed. "Tell me, Arty, is it a girl or boy."

The child bit her bottom lip, furrowed her brow in frustration, and looked directly where Itachi hid. His heart quickened.

"Boy," she said, looking back at the two women.

"What's his name?" Her mother asked.

"I don't know, but he's a big boy with long black hair." The child said hesitantly before continuing to eat her rice-ball.

After that, Itachi waited until the child came out alone to approach her. The chance came a year later.

The child turned around after she had finished throwing her kunai at the wooden post ahead of her. "Hello?" She asked unsteadily.

Itachi revealed himself to the little girl, who looked at him in awe. "I know you!" She said excitedly. "You were hiding out last year when Mommy, Ino, and me had our picnic! You know you were not really supposed to be there, it was no boys allowed."

Itachi could not help but smile at the child's innocence. What was wrong with him? He never cared for children. He had killed plenty of children before, but now he hesitated. Why? He bent down to get a better look at the girl and got his answer.

The child was almost an exact likeness of his little brother at that age, save for green eyes.

Trying his best to keep his composure, he asked the girl, "Forgive me, Miss...?"

"Haruno Artemis, age five."

Haruno? Of course, Sasuke's little girlfriend was called Haruno Sakura. And it had been only a little over five years since his little brother had left Konoha. It made sense. There was only one thing...

"Well, Haruno-san, you havevery pretty eyes."

"The better to see you with." Came the quick answer.

"Yes, well, may I look at the a little closer?"

The little girl stepped back. "You're not gonna take them out, are you?"

Itachi chuckled. "No, just let me look you in the eye."

Artemis let him. Itachi stared into her eyes. There it was. Unmastered Sharingan eyes. This was his brother's daughter.

"Well, Haruno-san, my name is Itachi, just Itachi. I would like to be your friend."

"Ok." The little girl said naively.

"But you must keep it a secret, if you need to tell anyone about something we did, call me Kakashi, ok?"

"Ok."

To this day, Itachi did not understand why he did that. Maybe it was his way of making it up to Sasuke, maybe it was because of his need for the sharingan to live on, maybe it was her adorable face and attitude. But from that day on, Itachi did his best to train and protect the little girl.

It was due to this he reconciled with his brother(somewhat)and worked to protect the village. Really, Konoha meant nothing to him. But this girl did. Now all he had to do is make sure the Akatsuki did not discover her or her power.

He smiled at the girl warmly and held out his arms. The teenager ran towards him and gave hima crushing hug. Itachi returned the hug warmly, "Hey, Arty."

"Hey Itachi," she said before pulling back. "What brings you here?"

"You, mostly."

Artemis stopped. The 'you' part was normal, but the 'mostly' part didn't fit. "What do you mean 'mostly?'"

"Well, My Little Kitten, I have business here that I cannot really disscus with you right now."

"It's about Uchiha Sasuke, isn't it?" The girl asked him.

"Ah, you've met him, have you?" Itachi asked her with eyebrow raised. By the sound of it, she still didn't know. Did Sasuke know? He had to, Itachi realized it in five seconds. "Yes, partly."

"I don't like him much, he makes Mom act all weird."

I bet he does. "Well, he and your Mom used to be good friends, she's probably just happy to see him."

Artemis rolled her eyes. "No, she's acting like he's a ticking bomb. I'm just waiting for him to go off and see how crazy she gets then."

Itachi ruffled her hair. "I'm sorry to hear that. But tell me about how your band is doing."

"Well, judging by the last rehearsal, we're doing horribly..."