THE TRUTH UNRAVELS
Three Years Ago
She quickly made her way through the hospital. She knew the halls like the back of her hand and she was finally in a position to get to the records room without needing approval.
She opened the drawers and quickly scanned through the files until she landed on "U". Uchiha, Uzamkai. She started at both files before biting her lip and taking them both out.
The list of Uzumakis wasn't long, only being a handful of them that came from Uzu before they eventually died out. But she noticed something off.
Uzumaki Kushina age 24 classification special jounin. Multiple dates to the hospital until October 10th, where she was later pronounced dead.
She couldn't keep her name off the offspring where one Uzumaki Naruto was listed…
Uzumaki Naruto. Her teammate. Fuck, she really thought they gave Naruto the Uzumaki name to keep the clan from dying off but it was real, he was Kushinas son. She quickly scanned through her hospitalization dates and saw one signature consistent with all dates where Kushina-san went into the hospital for check ups around the time Naruto was born and "M.N."was constantly there.
M.N… fuck no… fuck no because it never made sense that the Hokage would seal the nine tailed beast into a random child. That was one puzzle piece Sakura couldn't put down. The Fourth Hokage ruined Naruto's life and why would he do that, unless he thought his son would be protected and loved and hailed as a hero, FUCK.
She couldn't breath, but it made so much sense. Why else would the third bond with a child that had nothing to do with him. Why else would Naruto be allowed to graduate the academy despite the fact that he wasn't prepared.
Naruto was a hero. Point blank period.
And the village, fuck, the village basically disowned him and threw him in the ocean hoping he couldn't swim, but he could… and he did.
Naruto was the Hokages son. All these years and he was the HOKAGES SON! There was no telling that the third didn't know, he had to have, fuck the entire village had to have known, because how does one keep a secret that their wife was pregnant- while being Hokage.
And Naruto was subjected to hate despite being the jinchuriki, and did the Third know that the kyuubi fed off of hate? That if Naruto wasn't so pure he could have easily been another Gaara?
And fuck she didn't want to open the Uchiha file. But she pulled the file on top and flipped it open. She scanned through the files leading up to the massacre and paused. 47 percent.
47 percent of jounin Uchihas who left Konoha on missions returned in body bags with their eyes missing.
No. No. No, because the statistics were too high for this to be a coincidence. She took a few deep breaths before forcing herself to read more.
The massacre wasn't at all what she expected. Sasuke said Itachi killed the clan to get stronger but the autopsy reports, highly suggested otherwise.
Their deaths were quick, that of an ANBU assassin. Nobody aside from Sasuke was tortured or even felt pain, Itachi hadn't tested his strength with a katana to the throat. They say he went insane and killed his entire family- that he snapped but yet there was no signs of struggle. The modus operandi was the same, everyone experienced a quick and pain free death.
She quickly stood up, the chair scraping against the ground as she did so. And rushed to the trash and emptied her stomach.
Their eyes. After the massacre whoever was reported of having a sharingan had their eyes stolen, and she knew damn well it wasn't Itachi. It didn't add up. Fuck, she couldn't breath. She sent her chakra through her body to calm her nerves. Itachi wouldn't have needed his clan sharingan if he had unlocked the Mangekyo Sharingan after killing his best friend.
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand before making her way back to the table. And froze.
"Sakura?" Shizune called out while stepping into the room and turning the light on. "What are you doing?"
"Makaea Unea," she said, holding up the file, "she had no medical history of heart disease, this shouldn't have happened." Makaea Unea had been a jounin who she treated, yet died after two days of Sakura trying her hardest to keep her alive, and apparently she made a great scapegoat because Shizune nodded her head and accepted the file Sakura put in her hand. And Sakura thanked Kami that they'd given her Kakashi as a sensei.
"You did your best, but you can't save everyone." Sakura glared at the wall. She didn't believe that, and maybe it was a team seven thing, but everyone can be saved- Even in death you could be saved- she learned that from Zabusa.
"Sakura-chan go home and rest, you look like shit."
"Ja ne." Sakura called out as she left the records room. She walked fast, getting to her house in less than 10 minutes. It took her even less time than that to pack a bag and slip out of the village.
It wouldn't be long before Shizune realized the file she'd given her had been a genjutsu. It wouldn't be long before Tsunade would know she just committed treason.
Treason. Fuck, she needed to turn around but her legs wouldn't stop going. And fuck she just broke Naruto and Kakashi's heart and she couldn't stop.
She wasn't going to find him, but he'd find her. When she had gotten outside of Konoha's land she flared her chakra in the S.O.S code he had taught her. And she waited.
She should have taken this information to Tsunade, her hokage. That was protocol and she knew protocol. She also knew that treason would get you locked up for years. And just because Itachi didn't "test his strength" doesn't mean he didn't go bat-shit crazy or have a mental breakdown. But it didn't add up. Itachi was loyal like every shinobi until he killed his clan.
"Why did you kill your clan?" She quickly turned and all but screamed the question into the dark clearing.
She couldn't see him, nor did he respond to her question but she knew he was there. Watching her, more likely the file clutched in her hand.
Minutes passed before he spoke, "What's in the file." She quickly spun around and came face to face with Uchiha Itachi. She clutched the file closer to her chest.
"Why did you kill your clan? Did someone force you?"
She didn't stop him from taking the file from her hands before he scanned it and released the genjutsu she placed on it. She wasn't dumb and wouldn't bring classified information outside of the village. And seeing as she had a photographic memory all the information had been there.
"Your genjutsu is improving." She glared at him before shoving his chest.
"I asked you a question! None of this makes sense! You don't make sense! You're supposed to be a monster who kicks puppies for living, and yet your loyalty speaks volumes!" She shoved him again and noticed his eyes light up in amusement, she shoved him harder.
"Would you like me to kick a puppy for you?" He asked as he playfully swatted her hands away from him. Her glare intensified. There were things he's done, things like this that let her know he wasn't a monster. Kakashi told them to look underneath the underneath, and Itachi Uchihca might be the biggest mystery.
"I want you to tell me the truth." She watched as his eyes turned, and they looked so much like Unea-sans after she was pronounced dead.
"I killed my clan to get stronger, there's no other reason."
"Bullshit! Sasuke said you already had the mangekyou, and your M.O. was quick and efficient, they didn't struggle, didn't even fight. You didn't fight. Yo- you slaughter them."she ended softly and a series of emotions flickered across Itachi's eyes before she was slammed against a tree.
Emerald met garnet.
"Don't speak of things you know nothing about."
"Then tell me." She had to bite her lip to keep from yelling at him, "Because I just committed treason coming here, and I don't think you went crazy and killed your family, Itachi. So tell me and let me help you."
"Go home Sakura."
"Damn it! Kami Itachi, why did you help me during the Chunin exams? Why did you come back after you put Sasuke in the hospital to tell me who you were if you weren't going to let me help you?"
"It was a calculated mistake on my part. I'm sorry Haruno-
"Don't you dare." She held his gaze, daring him to cast her in a genjutsu. The corner of his lips raised as he took a step away from her.
"I can't help you Sakura." She bit her lip before slowly putting her hand on his chest, and letting her chakra entire his system.
"I think you're a good man, a good shinobi. You might not-
She narrowed her eyes and focused more on his lungs. Itachi's hand settled on hers but never pulled her hand away.
He stared intensely at her. Wondering if all it took her was a few minutes to see how sick he was becoming, while it took him over two years.
Her eyes meet his, "You're sick, there's pills you can take but it won't cure you- you need a medic. Let me help you."
"I don't need a cure."
"You need Sasuke to get stronger right- you said for him to get the same eyes as you and kill you. But you're putting a time limit on Sasuke to get to his full strength, he needs to flourish, and I can give him that, you could give him that just let me give you more time." His eyes narrowed at that and Sakura quickly pushed, Kakashi would be proud. "It's the least you can do right? Because Sasuke deserves that, he deserves time and you can give that to him"
Because of everything Itachi Uchiha did, he left Sasuke alive, twice. The bond of siblings was strong and Itachi couldn't deny the fact that he loved his brother.
Itachi wanted to die but more than that he wanted Sasuke to be happy, to be strong on his own merit. So Itachi looked down at her,
"You'd be betraying Konoha."
"I don't think I am."
He was silent for a while staring at her, "Two years."
"Ok." She said while holding his glaze before pulling away. She didn't mind the time limit because team seven was known for being late to everything- promises included.
THE TRUTH UNRAVELS
If he thought the entire trip would have been quite like the first night he would have been surprised. He expected a little bickering here and there from Naruto and Sasuke, he'd been wrong of course.
Over the days following the reunion, Naruto barely talked and when he did it was only to ask him if Sakura had told him about the Uchiha Brothers. Sasuke looked ready to bolt the closer they got to the prodigy Uchiha. Sai was Sai, and Sasuke's teammate- minus the big guy (Juugo if he recalled correctly)- were antagonizing him at every stop. And ok, they weren't just annoying Kakashi, he noticed at least twice throughout the day someone looked ready to strangle the white haired and redhead kid.
They had to have loved the attention, for Karin to so boldly say- in front of them no less- "I mean can you blame her?" she asked while sitting with Suigetsu (knowing the others were in earshot) "I thought she was insane for turning Sasuke-kun down, but when you have the real deal, that's a no brainier."
"Yeah and here I thought Sakura was using the Uchiha, eh but I guess she was in a way." he said, wagging his eyebrows for the hundredth of time. No matter the fact that Naruto couldn't physically hit Suigetsu, he always tried and always ended up drenched after. Sasuke ended up banning them from speaking which lasted (to his surprise) an entire hour.
The day they would intercept Itachi was the day Sasuke became restless. Second guessing everything anyone said and only listening to himself.
"All of you stay here, I'll get him."
"You're only going to end up in a fight"
"Just stay out of my way, this isn't about you." Sasuke pushed himself up to the front, content on leaving the rest of them behind. They followed.
He knew something was off the moment Itachi stopped moving, he'd been in the same place for hours. They tracked him to an abandoned building- most likely a safe house. Itachi knew they were coming and instead of running he was waiting, a trap. Itachi was good but could he defeat 8 jounin (give or take) at the same time…. Kakashi didn't actually want to test out the theory. The last time he faced him had been a genjutsu and even he couldn't see the illusion until after it was too late. Itachi wasn't called a genius for nothing, and the closer they got the thoughts of a trap seemed more likely.
"Where's his partner?" He asked, landing next to Sasuke.
"Hn, somewhere near the Land of Mountains." Kakashi stilled. The Land of Mountains wasn't anything special. They had one major village that got burned down during the war, but that information didn't cause him to pause. Sakura's last mission had been in the Land of Mountains. And if it was true- if Itachi did murder Sakura, why would his partner be anywhere near the crime if Konoha still had troops out looking for a suspect.
Unless it was a trap.
"What." His train of thought ended as he shook his head at Sasuke, he wouldn't know why Kisame Hoshigaki is near the Land of Mountains.
"Were close, will you be alright."
Sasuke tsk'd at him, "I won't kill him." Kakashi sighed as Sasuke left him leaning on the tree. He wasn't reassured at all that given the chance Sasuke wouldn't kill his brother.
He couldn't understand. He knew Sakura, and none of this added up. Sure this could be a trap or he could go back over the thousands of memories they had the past 5 years and pick out the many times Sakura passive-aggressively mentioned how the world wasn't fair to "him." And no matter how many times Kakashi figured Sasuke was "him" it never matched. Not with how she would talk about Sasuke, and talk about "him". And he tried to ignore it, but it got harder to ignore with Sakura committing treason, but they talked after. She said it was about Naruto, she talked to Naruto and he trusted her. He could read the half truths in her eyes but decided not to push it anymore. He figured when she was ready to talk she would, and the years went on and the comments became more but still he didn't push. And then she died.
"Kaka-sensei, were heading out?" This was going to be a long day.
…
Sasuke kept surprising him. It was something he was glad for, after he pushed him down this path there was no telling if he'd ever come back but he made bonds. And those bonds were hell bent on getting him back. He was grateful to that- for them.
And as much as he loved when Sasuke surprised him, this time was not one of them.
It had been unlike the time Sakura told him Sasuke began learning the basics of medical ninjutsu. No. There he was proud of his brother, but this.
He waited 10 years for this day to come. In spite of that information, Itachi couldn't help but feel disappointed in not sensing her chakra being one of the 8 surrounding him. He half figured she would have been among them forcing him and Sasuke to have an adult conversation.
He smiled at the thought. If only it could be that simple. Part of him thought that Sasuke would end up forgiving him and as much as he wanted him to, he knew it wouldn't be fair. He forced Sasuke's entire livelihood to be about getting strong enough to kill him, and now he's going to take that away from him.
"Itachi."
He had to though. For Sakura's sake and his own. He was happy. Guilty yes- he failed his brother. And nothing could ever make that right, but he could try. Sasuke didn't owe him forgiveness and he didn't deserve it. But he was content in doing everything he could to get Sasuke to return home.
He waited long enough. It took him years for him to finally see how he can strive for happiness. He could be happy. And he wanted to be happy with Sasuke, but he could understand if Sasuke wanted nothing to do with him.
"How long has it been, Sasuke?" Sasuke's eyes flashed red, a reaction he expected. Itachi knew Sakura wouldn't have told him anything. Itachi had too. Sasuke needed to hear the truth from him, only Itachi could answer the thousands of questions swarming in his mind.
He just figured it would be easier with Sakura there.
"Cut the bull shit! Did you really think you could get away with it? Or was that your plan from the start? Who's next Itachi, because I'm tired of playing this same old game with you!" The rest of the group had circled him. He stared at Sasuke and waited for him to explain. Because no matter how old Sasuke grew, he was always explaining himself to him.
"Uchiha, you're coming with us." Kakashi-san grabbed him, seals desperately waiting to get in place when Sasuke ripped Kakashi's hand off him.
"I SAID STAY OUT OF THIS!" Sasuke roared before appearing in Itachi's face. "You fucking bastard-
"We need to talk Sasuke." Itachi tried- because Sakura told him if they wanted to stay together he'd have to try. And so he will.
"Talk?" Sasuke openly laughed, a manic expression appearing on his face. "You should have thought about that before you murdered my nephew." He deserved that… but killed their entire clan that night. He knew the names of everyone- the relationship everyone had, but they had no nephew. Was Sasuke so far gone he imagined family? Did he have any right to blame him?
"You didn't know?" Sasuke said, before breaking out in a maniacal laughter. "When you killed Sakura," a grin broke out on his face, a grin that didn't belong there- one he didn't want to witness. "Did you know you were murdering your own son? Or did you know but you just did it anyway?"
Sakura wasn't there, and she would have been. Missions, hospital work, something came up all of these were real reasons as to why she wasn't there. But she made it known that her team came first and here they were without her. She wasn't dead. Couldn't be dead, she was a woman who had unlocked the seal to a thousand healings. The woman who could turn a mountain to dust with one hit. The woman who could bring a life back from the verge of death and laugh to the Shinigamis face. She once mentioned Ino called her a cockroach how she refused to die. Because once she got knocked down she always got back up. Just like the rest of her team who were standing here before him and not her.
He knew his composure had slipped as he stepped back and collided into Kakashi-sans back. Who instantly placed the seals on him.
"We were going to take you in Nii-san" Sasuke hissed out, "But the only thing better suited for you is death!" He didn't move as Sasuke's lighting sword ran through his stomach.
"ITACHI!" Sasuke screamed, turning away from the flutter of birds just as Itachi stepped into the clearing.
"I'm disappointed to know after all these years, you still can't tell reality from genjutsu."
There was no point in trying when your love was dead.
He watched as Naruto and Sasuke came running to him, throwing everything they had at him, as Itachi merely doged. They played a game of cat and mouse. The rest of their teams joined in as Kakashi-san and Tenzo-san stayed back and watched. And when the time came, Tenzo's wood style shot out and grabbed him, seal mark in place.
"That's enough Itachi." Tenzo said while activating another seal on his forehead. He watched as Naruto and Sasuke argued, this scene was oddly familiar but it didn't feel right.
THE TRUTH UNRAVELS
Happy new years everyone!
A few things, this chapter is shorter than the rest. The rest of the chapters might be around this length i'm not sure how i'm feeling about it. let me know if you like the shorter or longer chapters!
I was hoping that this chapter would bring about a new arc… yeah no, i'm hoping chapter 6 is that arc!
Until then everything's happening as planned! That first flashback (Ita/Sak) might be like bro what the fuck, but it's going to come together!
Another thing yall… this update was late- yes. I needed to gain my motivation back so I started working on another story… and once I started that story I could not put it down! I'm halfway through with it and hopefully plan on getting it posted late Jan / early Feb.
Story: Is This Hope
Summary: He was alive. And that knowledge stuck him so hard he stumbled before coming to a stop. Itachi Uchiha was alive, and though this wasn't time travel he could still fix his mistakes. He had a second chance at life... But did he want it?
Coming soon, and as always R&R and have fun, my lovelies!
