THE TRUTH UNRAVELS


8 MONTHS AGO

Sakura smiled as she leaned forward and snatched the dango stick from Itachi's hand.

"Out of all the things you could ask for, you want my food?" He said while slightly narrowing his eyes at her, but not being able to keep the smile off his lips.

"Mmmhm!" She squeaked while stuffing the remaining in her mouth, before sticking her tongue out at him. Itachi smiled while pulling her legs closer on his lap and began rubbing her feet.

"You have a weird thing with feet," Sakura mumbled while leaning her head on his shoulder.

"I have many things," Itachi said as he let his chakra rake up her skin and Kisame absolutely had it.

"Oi, I'm watching a fucking movie, shut the fuck up! Kami, you're worse than Deidara." Listen, he was all for Itachi and Sakura. Hell, the girl made his partner happy and what else could Kisame want? But sitting here watching a movie for the past hour with them was hell. And he didn't mind all the sweet talk, it was shit like that- Itachi giving his chakra to her- that he refused to be a part of.

"Sorry, Sharkface!" Sakura grinned, and he dodged the pillow that came flying towards his head.

"Whatever, as long as you don't try to teach me that bullshit."

"Oh, whatever, medical ninjutsu is very useful."

"Only if you get injured, Pinky. And I can't even remember when was the last time I faced a challenge." Sakura rolled her eyes and buried herself closer to Itachi's side.

"To my 25 and your 24."

"Oi, you want a rematch bird?"

"Are you that eager to lose fish?

"Tsk, Team seven, and Taka combined couldn't take me and Itachi."

"Oh, both teams? Listen I know Itachi is good but if you think we wouldn't wipe your ass to the floor and back you're dead wrong."

"I guess we'll just have to see." Itachi pulled her closer to him while meeting Kisame's eyes, the unspoken "We'll win." was radiating off him and Kisame allowed himself to grin.

Young Itachi had been strong but he was sick. This Itachi, the improved version of Itachi, the one that wasn't going blind, was far more deadly than he had been years ago. Kisame couldn't even be mad when the man beat him in every spar. He was thrilled. And when Pink was gone, he was owed another one.

"Damn straight." He said back through his eyes.

He leaned back and cast a glance towards Itachi and Pink cuddled on the couch. When he met Pink bird two years ago, he never would have imagined her presence would be something he could look forward to. Sakura was a wild card, and she did everything purely for her own satisfaction. He, in no way thought she would match with Itachi.

Though he could positively say Itachi was biased. If Kisame so much as thought of killing a man in front of him, he would make a comment or stare at him like he had no hope for the future, but let the pinky kill a man in front of him and Itachi had been ready to jump her bones.

No, he was not jealous of Sakura, he repeated to himself. He and Itachi had grown to become excellent partners. When Kisame first joined Akatsuki he knew Itachi was different. While they all had some tragic backstory, Itachi never complained about life. Never demanded respect (his presence alone was enough) nor had he ever trash-talked Konoha. Itachi had looked at them all with disinterest. He never had a reason to be here, yet he did his job as anyone would.

Ever since Kisame had an odd urge to protect him. To watch him grow into the ninja he was today.

And that thought was troubling. Kisame had only been loyal to one Kage and that got him stabbed in the back. He didn't trust easily but this organization lowered his guard a bit. Not at first though. He was sure it all started with Itachi. There was something about him that just made you want to listen- he knew everyone felt it, even when he barely spoke.

Not everyone in the organization was sane but certain people had him rethinking his life goal to never trust again. Even though he disdained liars, Itachi had been that main factor, and Itachi was a beautiful liar. Who would have known Clan Killer Itachi was a loyal shinobi- though Kisame had to wonder how loyal he was if he killed his entire clan. Besides the point, he never had to wonder if Itachi would betray him, even before he found out the truth- which wasn't that long ago.

Honestly, he wasn't supposed to know any of it. He had caught bits of pieces of Itachi and Pinks conversation over the past year and he slowly put the pieces together. And he honestly couldn't say he was surprised. At first, he thought Pink was a missing-nin, she never wore her hitai-ate and trashed talked Konoha, against Itachi's wishes. And then she came for them to assist on her missions so he figured Itachi was gaining information to use against Konoha, but in meetings, Itachi never brought anything up.

He didn't have reservations about lying to Leader-Sama, Konan on the other hand was something else. She had been another reason why he started letting his guard down. Honestly, he could say he liked all the members of their organization, most of them joined because they had nothing else left. But there had been something deep about Pein. Something behind the sheets that they weren't seeing unsettled him. Pein was a liar.

And while Itachi was a liar at least he wore his own face.


THE TRUTH UNRAVELS


(Takes place after chapter 8)

While it wasn't his cup of tea, he could admit the Land of Mountains is beautiful.

He briefly remembered Sakura mentioning a mission towards this part of town. And while her mission would be over she should have been pairing to meet up with them now. But of course, Itachi had gone off on his own to "prepare."

It was closing in on the time Itachi would meet his brother and his partner had been hesitating. While Itachi letting Kisame lead missions had never been new, it was the way Itachi wouldn't trust his own decision had looked to Kisame for answers.

The past weeks since Pink left, Itachi grew deadly silent.

So he would grab Pink by himself and together they would be by Itachi's side as he had the long-awaited conversation with Little Uchiha.

And while Itachi was under the impression Little Uchiha wouldn't forgive him, Kisame knew better.

It has been over a decade since his village abandoned him and even now, Kisame would go crawling back with a little apology.

Home. A place he hadn't visited in years, a place he couldn't even dream of going back to. Because the person who wronged him was dead.

He was content with following Itachi around until the man died or pushed him away. But Itachi didn't trust easily. Yet never had Itachi shown he distrusted him, so Kisame stuck around. And the two of them were the perfect duo the Akatsuki had ever seen.

And because of that, Kisame would travel the ends of the earth to bring Itachi back to him.

The clearing was destroyed, yet nothing was amiss. There were no bodies, no chakra, nothing besides Sakura's dried blood scented the forest.

The scene screamed Sakura. He'd seen the damage the girl could do and this was no different- no it was. The work he'd always seen was from her spars with team seven. Never had it been this chaotic, this beautiful, and yet she hadn't been the last standing.

Whoever Sakura Haruno fought, was one hell of an opponent and one dead bitch the moment they found them.

And Kiba knew whoever this person was, was operating in a group. There was no way someone could get past Sakura, and he'd never admit it out loud, but team seven was the strongest team Konoha had to offer. And he wasn't putting that lightly. Sakura had the Strength of 100 Seals, and it was known she already passed Tsunade-sama.

Whoever this person was, had a grudge.

"Tsunade-sama said she was last seen in the Land of Mountains," Hinata spoke next to him, surveying the clearing one last time before nodding to Shino.

They weren't far from Konoha, which also raised alarms in his head.

From the information they were given, Sakura was ambushed and by the time help arrived it had been too late. Yet, there were sensors this far out. Sakura knew ANBU codes- as much as she acted like she didn't, there were rumors with her hanging around Team Ro, one of the most legendary ANBU teams out there, which made sense seeing as her sensei used to be a part of it- And there were codes she could have called (and most likely did call) and ANBU would have been here within minutes. And looking around the field let Kiba know Sakura had fought long enough for help to arrive. Yet they didn't.

Worst-case scenario, this meant Konoha had a spy. And with the Akatsuki lurking around the corner, it was possible.

"We'll make it by nightfall."

"No," He said, forcing himself to stop his teeth from grinding. "We'll make it by dawn if we use 75 percent."

"We need to think wisely."

"We want to find Sakura-sans attackers too. But what good will it do if we come across them and can't fight?"

"There's no way in hell, those bastards have the balls to stick around after this." He summoned chakra to his feet, "This is Naruto we're talking about. Had the situation been reversed, Naruto would have already caught the bastard by now. I'm not going back until her killer's dead in my arms." With that he leaped from the ground, summoning more chakra to his legs to push himself faster. He wasn't going back empty-handed if it was the last thing he did.

"Shisui," Mai's voice was heard coming down the stairs, while Shisui began opening the bar for the new day. "You can't ignore me all day," Mai said as she entered the bar coming to a stop beside her husband.

"I'm not ignoring you." He kept walking and began taking down the chairs from on top of the tables.

"Then talk to me." She swiftly walked up and snatched the chair from his arms and heard him sigh.

"I'm literally talking to you right now, Mai." Shisui was tired, and more than anything he wanted to escape before Itachi came searching for his beloved. He failed yet again and it resulted in more death. He was tired.

"We can't just leave our home,"

"I don't want to talk about this."

"No, you just said you're talking, and now you're mad that I'm not ok with picking up our entire family and moving further away from Konoha. We can work this out. You said nothing led back here. And if Konoha comes and senses her here, we'll tell them the only medic that came through here was Sakiya- tied to no village. We can protect our family, this entire village here will fight for our family. You aren't a child anymore, and you have help. Damn it, stop thinking this is your burden and yours alone. We're not running away."

"We've done it before." He snapped, turning away from her again to finish setting up. She moved with him.

"We're not kids anymore. We have a family and if all we do is run, that's going to teach them to run from their problems. We have to be adults and figure this out. I'm not running."

"We have to leave Mai. Why are you ok with going to Konoha but not going anywhere else?"

"Because I can't keep enabling you Shisui. I always thought that we had to move on from our past but that's not it. I made peace with my past and you haven't. And no matter how far you run or how much you try to forget, it will always haunt you. It will continue taking your soul unless you do the work. So, heal. Go find your problem and fucking heal."

"This family healed me."

"No it didn't," She said slowly, "We filled a void in your heart, but it can't be enough." She reached out, taking his hand in hers. "You can't let it be enough. Find your cousin and come home."

She pulled away from him and headed towards the bar just as the door opened.

"Good morning!" She called as she turned and grabbed cups for the travelers. Without missing a beat she placed the cups down and filled them with water as the Konoha nin came and glanced around the bar.

"Thanks, lady. Look, we're looking for a medic that would have traveled here. Her scent traces back here, have you seen her?"

Kiba stared impatiently at the lady before Hinata dragged him to sit at the stall.

"Can I get you anything to eat?" She smiled at them, and Kiba growled.

"Ah yes miss, three of your favorite breakfast sandwiches," Hinata said, offering the lady a smile.

"Coming right up." She called as she left towards the back.

"What the hell! Oi you there," Kiba turned to look at the man who was walking over, "have you seen a medic?"

"Sakiya." The man said while refilling Hinata and Shino's drink. "Yeah, you just missed her, checked out a few days ago."

Kiba glared hard at his cup as he slammed his hand on the table, "Damn it!"

"Did you notice anyone following her? Anyone she was around?" Hinata asked over Kiba's shout.

"How the hell would a blind man know! Where's the lady that was here?"

"Kiba-kun! I'm so sorry about him!" Hinata quickly apologized for his rudeness, "Sakiya was a friend, and we believe she's in trouble."

The man paused as the lady came back out, setting their food in front of them, "I can show you the room she was staying in, though it has been cleaned, maybe you can find something there. I'm sorry I can't offer any other help."

"You've offered enough, thank you."


THE TRUTH UNRAVELS


A Few Months Ago

She grunted as Itachi caught her foot. Lifting her leg higher, "Always aim for the head," before he adjusted her stance, "Repeat the move until it's right." She dropped her leg, took a step back, and resumed her kick. Again Itachi corrected her stance, "Again," he stated, and she did the stance over and over, each time Itachi fixed it less and less until he was satisfied with the pose.

"Good job, Haruno." He placed his hand directly below her leg. "Keep this pose for five minutes." She glared at him, cursing him off in her head yet she nodded regardless. Closing her eyes she focused on her breathing. Years in the OR allowed her to be perfectly still.

"Haruno." Opening her eyes she glanced at Itachi and gasped in shock as she stumbled back. Her leg came down, Itachi grabbed it before she had a chance to drop her foot to the ground, and pulled her back in the stance. "Your time is starting over."

"Th-that's not fair! You tried to put me in a genjutsu, of course, I'm going to move." Itachi chuckled at her as she fumed. Puffing her cheeks out she closed her eyes yet again.

"Your training with Tsunade-sama is quite impressive," Itachi mumbled as he drew a circle on her ankle and traced a line along her leg. Sakura blushed, forcing herself to remain still as his hands trailed up her torso. "Your body holds so much strength in it." His voice was low, directly in her ear. She knew it was a ploy to cause her to mess up. But now she couldn't feel the heat radiating off his body.

She turned her torso to him and was pushed back into place. "You know better," He murmured, roughly grabbing her leg and pulling it higher than before. "Five minutes." She bit her lip, her hands dropping lower causing Itachi to bring them back to her chest. Standing next to her for a solid minute, he pulled back, circling around her, making sure her stance was perfect. It was.

At the end of the five minutes, he stepped back. Admiring her flexibility to be in a position for a long period of time and not shake. The muscles in her leg were tense, he smirked. Going to stand behind her he tapped her leg and she instantly raised it.

"You did well Haruno." He reached forward and grabbed her thigh, pulling her against him. She dropped her leg and groaned.

"That was the worst 12 minutes of my life." She sighed, releasing her hips, she leaned forward until her hands touched the ground, and arched her back in a stretch. "I can't feel my legs." She whined, Itachi smirked, settling his hand on her waist. Dragging his hand around her torso, he pulled her to him.

"Come here." Sakura blushed as she complied with his wish and stood directly in front of him. His hand raked over her body stopping shortly at her neck before loosely wrapping around it. She softly moaned, leaning her head back to rest on his chest. His chuckle was low in her ear, "You're so receptive."

"Haha, asshole." Turning her body, she shoved him and jumped back landing in her stance she raised her arms, "Are we going to spar, or are you going to make googling eyes at me all day?"

His smirk widened as he beckoned her forward. "Let's dance Haruno."

"Something doesn't feel right."

Sakura focused her attention on his lungs, performing another thorough body scan on him, she frowned before slowly moving towards his kidneys. She focused her chakra on his heart next, everything was clear. Taking a slow breath she pushed her chakra through his blood cells. Slowly she expanded her chakra, every inch inside of his body became perfectly clear to her, and still nothing.

"I'm not seeing anything."

"Something is there." His voice was soft as he spoke to her.

She flushed his body with her chakra and after an hour of nothing, she gently released her chakra from his body. "We can go to the hospital and get scans done, but I'm not seeing anything. What are you feeling?"

Itachi paused as he set his hand over his chest. "I… can't explain it."

"Ok," Sakura stood and quickly packed a bag, "We're going to Konoha, you should inform Kisame we'll be gone a few days ok?" All Itachi could do was nod as he slipped out of bed and got ready.

"Konoha has better medical equipment and I'll have free access to those unlike the smaller villages around. I know it's been a while since you stepped foot into Konoha, but I'll be with you every step of the way. Let me know if anything gets too much or if you need a second to breathe."

Once everything was in place the duo headed to Konoha. Sakura trailed behind Itachi and watched him curiously. While she hadn't been expecting it, she knew it was sooner or later before a relapse would occur. She just- it'd been a while since Itachi got quite like this, but a part of her was relieved. If this had happened a few months ago Itachi never would have asked for her help. Never would have tried to prolong his death.

The genjutsu flew over Itachi before they reached Konoha borders and by the time they walked inside the gate he was a regular older man with dark brown hair. He resembled their former client from the week before and Sakura stopped herself from smirking.

They were greeted by the guards like nothing was amiss. Not even an S-Class ninja would be able to tell that it was Itachi. He was nothing but an afterthought.

"We'll go to the hospital and run those scans first. Afterward, I'll show you my room! Remember how I'm living with Naruto right? Well, we have a room for Sasuke- it was the room Kakashi-sensei turned down, but we were actually thinking of adding more space to the house- like an extension for Sasuke. Now we won't have to and besides, I'm glad we don't live with Kakashi-sensei because he's a perv, ya know? And don't get me started on how Naruto has been trying to steal Kakashi-sensei's book-"

Itachi for one was grateful as Sakura continued to ramble on. Being back in Konoha put him on edge. This was supposed to be Sasuke's life. Yet, he failed his brother and let him down the wrong path. A voice in his head that unsurprisingly sounded like Sakura told him he was human, and humans had the right to make mistakes and learn from them. He allowed his shoulders to relax as they walked into the hospital.

Stopping at the nurse's station, they quickly caught Sakura up to speed with all that has happened in her absence. After reminding her nurses that she was in fact, not back. She excused herself and Itachi followed her into an absent examination room.

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me ok." As Itachi began undressing, she hooked the EKG machine up and begin writing down reports for his file, "Ok, I'm going to run a series of tests on you until we find it."

After a long excruciating day of traveling to Konoha and then running tests and labs all day long, the two found themselves in Sakura's beds.

"I got it all," Sakura murmured, leaning forward and kissing the worry line on his forehead.

He smiled, grabbing her chin and pulling her lips to him. "I know. I'm thinking of me being here with your roommate in the room next to us."

She grinned into his kiss, "And in a few months our brother will be in the room down the hall." A low chuckle emerged from Itachi's chest as he pulled her on top of him.

"Sakura," Sakura sighed into his lips, as his hands settled on her sides, "I love you."

"Huh?" Sakura squeaked then froze.


THE TRUTH UNRAVELS


The Konoha ninja had searched the inn for clues, ultimately they left empty-handed. Shisui sat across from Mai, His hand resting on top of hers. After the ninja had left Shisui asked to speak to her, and this is how she found herself sitting in silence across from her husband. She waited for him to speak as she turned her hand over, and clutched his. He squeezed back and opened his mouth, just to snap it shut. At this moment she waited for the love of her life to speak.

"Itachi was my best friend," His voice was hesitant and his hands grew clammy. "He meant more to me than the clan or the village. And I- I failed him. He had no one who understood- besides me and when I… I thought I had the answer, that I could stop the clan from going through with the Coup." His other hand reached out and touched the cloth over his eyes. "My eyes. There were strong and I could have- I could have thought of something different, the problem was the village, but I was naive."

His laugh was broken, "I was 15 and thought I could save the Uchiha and Konoha. I didn't think there was someone in the village who wanted chaos, I thought- he thought- we just wanted peace. And then I went off and lost an eye, there was nothing else I could do, I was injured and dying." His voice grew defensive but the guilt was clinging to his words, "And the only person who understood was a 13 year old so I- I gave him my eye and committed suicide in front of him."

Shisui paused, hearing Mai's bone crack under his grip, and he quickly popped her thumb into place before pulling his hand away. Mai quickly reached out and pulled his hand back into hers. "I'm sorry," He pulled her hand to his lips and breathed in her scent as he kissed her palm. After a few minutes, he placed their hands back in front of him and took a deep breath.

"I put so much responsibility on him and I know he thinks he disappointed me, but I disappointed him first. And when Sakura found us- I thought, 'Hey Itachi is finally happy, and he has a support system so why not tell him the truth?' but, he doesn't anymore. She's dead. And I can't look at Itachi when he's hurting. I've cost so much of his pain, and I've wanted to die for so long knowing the pain and suffering I bestowed onto him. Yet, if I see him, I'll- I'll take that responsibility from him-

"I'll try to take his pain and it'll kill me. I'll blame myself even more than I do now, and I know I sound like a coward, but Mai I'm scared- and I can't so I'm asking, I'm begging for you not to make me do that. We have two kids and a third on the way. And if I see him now, I can't promise I'll survive it." His voice cracked and at the end the cloth around his eyes was damp, and Mai quickly made her way to the other side of the booth and wrapped him in a warm embrace.

"Ok," she said, grabbing his face and resting her forehead on his, "we'll leave Kero. We'll pack the kids' bags and grab them from school."

It had been weeks since they left their home. Aimlessly walking throughout the mountains and land with Shunsuke pointing out everything. He had been overjoyed and therefore hadn't noticed how tense their parents had been. Itama had taken it upon herself to keep Shunsuke entertained throughout their journey.

And as intrigued as she was seeing outside of Kero for the first time, her parents were two of the strongest shinobi she knew and she'd never seen them on the defensive- running away from a fight. Despite what they thought, Itama overheard their conversation. Sakura was dead, and their dad was on the defense. To their dad, this was the third time he failed their uncle. It was false but he didn't think that.

It was enough. She didn't understand fully but she knew her father couldn't keep going like this. She stopped and opened her mouth just when both her parents tensed.

Something shifted in the air, something that allowed the two to know they were being watched.

"Mai," she nodded her head as Shisui ran through a series of signs that wove over his family turning them into nothing more than air. With the genjutsu put in place, Shisui hopped onto the nearest tree barely dodging the sword that slashed at his throat.

"The average shinobi couldn't have dodged that hit, let alone a blind man."

"You've been following us for a while," Shisui commented as his kunai came forward and clanged with the shinobis sword.

"It's funny, you flee from Kero the day after Pinky is murdered."

Pinky… was he talking about Sakura? He jumped back, narrowly dodging the water bullets that the mist ninja threw. He really hated Kiri. He did appreciate the fact that the ninja refrained from using any mist style jutsu- it would have been a waste.

Water shot forward just as he blew fire from his mouth. It's been a while since he'd had a good one-on-one.

Shisui perched himself on a tree above the man, "You… your Uchiha Itachi's partner. Hoshigaki Kisame." He paused and the thought that Itachi was somewhere behind this man caused his blood to freeze, and for a brief second, he thought of running away from Itachi, from his family.

"Tsk don't you dare say his name."

Water flooded the tree he was in and Shisui retreated to higher ground. Whatever the case was, Hoshigaki wasn't his enemy.

"Oi," he called using body flicker to move out of Hoshigaki's range. "I didn't kill Haruno." Efficiently writing off Hoshigaki, he tried to focus on Itachi's chakra. Odd.

There was a pause in the man before he scoffed, "You know who I'm talking about, was the last to see her alive according to Konoha, yet you didn't kill her."

"You should ask Konoha."

"Konoha huh? What do you know?"

"I'm not the man you're looking for." They didn't need him, "I'm sorry for your loss."

"They'll blame him. Itachi, and he'll let them."

It wouldn't be the first time. Itachi didn't need him. In a cloud of smoke, he was gone. A few moments later he stood before his family, pulling them into a hug.

"Let's get out of here huh? I know this great little village near the Land of Tea." Shunsuke squealed of going someplace new while Mai kissed his cheek. But Itama… he knew she was frowning.

She watched him that night as they sat around a fire, listening to Okaa-san tell them stories of her past. Shisui's fingers ran over the curve of a folded paper. He offered her a smile as he went back to touching the paper.

Her tou-chan always stressed the importance of them making their own decisions (as long as it was reasonable) because he wanted them to do the right thing. And at 7, Itama knew she didn't always do the right thing but the important thing was if she messed up, she apologized and fixed it. She hoped that her tou-chan would take the advice he taught them. But it was ok, he didn't have to have all the answers because they did.

She reached forward while he was distracted with Shunsuke and snatched the paper out of his hand, and took off running out the cave.

She lowered her chakra to that of a bird and hid in the trees. While hide n' seek was more of her brother's game, she was pretty excellent in it as well. She ranked her hands through a surface jutsu and altered the area around her. Trees turned to rocks, and rock to trees, a hill would be a waterfall, and leaves would be sand. This particular genjutsu was taught to her by Shunsuke who learned it to mess with their tou-chan.

"You're getting better at that," Tou-chan sounding mildly annoyed and amused.

Itama unfolded the paper, "Gaara, remember that time when team seven saved your ass?" She cocked her head, "What does that mean, tou-chan?"

Her father sighed, taking a seat on the branch beside her. "I don't know, some message."

"Why are you running? You made a promise- and you said if a shinobi has anything it's their word."

"I'm not a shinobi anymore, love."

"What do you want me to say tou-chan?"

Shisui turned to face her, "That you love me. And you understand why we have to leave."

Itama smiled at him, throwing her arms around his neck, "I love you tou-chan." Her arms tighten around him, "Why do you leave your brother?" Her dad sighed as he returned her hug.

"It's complicated love."

"You are scared?" Her eyes narrowed as her head tilted. She was confused

"Love, some things are scary not because you aren't strong enough. But because you aren't mentally or emotionally ready to handle it."

"So we run?" She was pulled from around him, and settled into his lap, facing him.

"No love," he mumbled poking her forehead. "We face it, and deal with it. Or it feasters and builds up over time until it pops." He used his hands to mimic an explosion, causing her to smile and push his hand together.

"So we don't run?" She lowered their hands.

"We don't run." He agreed. "Why," he laughed pulling her forward, "do you always make me want to do the right thing hmm? Not even your mother can convince me."

She offered him a small smile, "You have a weird habit of doing anything I say?" she asked, and noticed him wince and laugh, before kissing her forehead.

"I love you," he murmured against her, "But I have to go. Protect your mom and brother, I'll be back by dawn." He handed her a seal, if she activated it, he'd be there in less than a minute.

Kisame sat at a pub, drinking a bottle of cheap liquor. He shouldn't have been surprised that Haruno's death affected him. She wasn't able to out drink him but she came pretty close. He recalled the time Itachi had finally indulged in drinking with them. It was the first time he'd ever seen Itachi, not in control. He wore a dopey smile and nodded his head along to everything. Itachi had got into his first bar fight- not by choice. The three of them had gone swimming after and slept next to the lake.

It was the first time Itachi ever allowed them to celebrate his birth.

And if you asked him how Sakura's death was turning into him missing Itachi, he'd tell you that Itachi was going to go off the radar. Correction, Itachi had gone off the radar. He wasn't sure if Itachi knew or not but the kid had missed their meeting and hadn't been at the Uchiha hideout- and he was aware that Itachi and baby Uchiha had not had a fight. So, logic was saying Itachi was MIA.

He couldn't blame him, Itachi was going to blame himself for Sakura being dead. But as Itachi's best friend, it was his job to remind him it wasn't his fault. But, he couldn't do his goddamn job if Itachi was MIA.

He drank the last quarter of the bottle, slamming it onto the counter. "I'll take another," he told the barkeep. "Actually," Nodding to the man who took the stool to his left, "make that two. How did you know Haruno?"

"I didn't. I know your partner. Where is he?" The barkeep slid the drinks towards them.

Kisame laughed, picking up his drink, "That's the question of the hour," taking a swing, he placed the bottle down.

The two of them sat quietly as a group of Konoha shinobi came into the bar and took up a booth. Loudly, they ordered drinks and cheered and toasted well into the evening.

Kisame sighed, "We're pretty close to Konoha, maybe he's at the funeral." He spoke to himself as he mulled over the information. Maybe he's with Sasuke and they worked things out. Yeah, he could work with that.

"Unlikely," he heard the man mutter before taking a sip of his drink. He was right, Itachi wasn't that kind of pers-

"I can't believe they finally caught the bastard! Konoha 2, Akatsuki 0." The group laughed as one shinobi stepped onto the table. His brown shoulder-length hair fell in his face, using his puffy fingers he pushed it out the way.

"Lets cheers to Uchiha Itachi! The murder who thought he got away with it all!" A course of cheers and clapping was heard.

"I heard they're planning on executing him! An end to the Uchihas!" Laughing was heard all throughout the bar.

The group didn't notice when the two left the pub.

"Damn it!" Kisame's fist collides with the building. "Damn it," he repeated. "He isn't here because his dumb ass allowed himself to be taken!"

"So let's get him back."

Kisame whipped around and stared at the blind man. "He doesn't want to be here."

"Who said we're giving him a choice?" Shisui reached in his pocket and tossed him the paper, "By Gaara, I assume she means the Kazekage?"


A/N: Hello loves, this chapter took me so long. Plenty of deletes and rewrites later, I present to you what the other Uchiha's have been up to during these last few weeks!

I'm so extremely grateful to have made it this far into this story, and it's thanks to yall! Thank you for the replies and reads! Schools starting back up but I'm making sure to set time aside to give yall these next few chapters!