About three days later, the kids were finally left unsupervised with the exception of a sleeping Kisame. The shark ninja hadn't been doing much since his partner had been locked up. Sasuke took the lack of supervision as his chance. He headed over to Naruto's room, peeking his head in. He could see Naruto on his bed, doodling as per usual in his old sketch pad Sasori had given him years ago.

"Oi, dobe. Let's go." Sasuke spoke with a renewed sense of authority, trying to get back into the swing of things.

On one hand, Naruto was glad he was feeling better. On the other, he hated that Sasuke felt the need to be so rude. Oh well, it was just the way his brother was, he supposed. "Tch, where exactly are we going, teme?"

Sasuke crossed his arms at the blonde, tilting his head back a bit towards the doorframe. "Let's go visit Itachi and Tobi. I have things I need to talk with them about and I'm sure you're missing Tobi. I know how much you love him."

"Well, yeah, I do really miss him, but after what you said is it really a good idea to be around him? What if he tricks us again. Besides, it's pretty obvious he doesn't love us as much as we thought." glancing down a bit at the thought.

The raven-haired teen nudged his friend. It was strange seeing him sad, but everyone got upset at times he supposed. "We don't know that. There are two sides to every story. Maybe he had a reason to do what he did?"

"You're right. We can at least hear him out." Naruto agreed, lightly smacking his palms against his face as if to hype himself. He smiled, "Yeah, let's go see them. I'm surprised mom and dad are letting us go already though. I thought they'd make us wait at least another week."

A small shrug left Sasuke's shoulder as he spoke. "Well, they actually haven't given us permission, but it shouldn't be too hard to get in. Dad's away on a big mission and everyone else it pretty busy. Kisame's the only one home and he's asleep. Since the others are gone, for now, dad probably left the key with Kisame rather than in his office. We just have to sneak into his room and get it without him noticing."

Naruto smirked at the other, setting his things to the side to join him as they made their way down the hallway. "We better not get caught then. I'm not really in the mood for one of Kisame's ear-fulls." Sasuke nodding grimly along with him. Both Kisame and Itachi had different ways of lecturing them, but both left them just as tired and defeated. They'd definitely avoid either of their lectures if given the chance.

They soon arrived at Itachi and Kisame's door, Naruto peeking in to check on him. The shark ninja was laying on his bed, just as still as they had last seen him. Naruto quietly headed in, Sasuke following right after. The two glanced around, looking for the key's location. Sasuke found it rather quickly. It was half under the pillow Kisame was sleeping on.

Sasuke grimaced at the placing, but Naruto moved boldly to grab at it. He was only stopped when he felt Sasuke grab his wrist and pull him back, the dark-haired boy sending him death glares. Naruto sent one right back, only stopping when Sasuke waved his hand in a 'get back' motion.

The raven-haired boy slowly moved forward, crouching down in front of Kisame to try and make a move for the key. Naruto stood behind him looking mildly annoyed but watching his partner in crime's movements. Sasuke took a deep breath, steadying his hands as he reached for the key. In one slow and smooth motion, he got it, clenching it to his chest in relief.

He glanced back at the blond, moving his hand in a 'hurry' motion as they slowly but quickly inched towards the door. They didn't need to get caught red-handed. They luckily got out pretty easily, Sasuke letting out a loud breath as he shut the door behind him. Naruto did the same, the younger boy grimacing, "That killed me. I thought he was going to wake up at any minute and take a grab at us." the blond whined with a grin, hand on his chest.

Sasuke had to admit, he shared the same nerves as he moved. He was sure Kisame was going to reach up and grab his wrist at any moment. The shark ninja always had loved scaring them a bit too much in Sasuke's opinion.

"Tch, let's just go. We don't want to waste time. He could wake up any minute now and drag us back." Sasuke warned, taking the blond's hand and leading him towards the staircase to go downstairs. Soon after, they headed off to the prison.

It was pretty easy to make their way to the prison. It wasn't like the villagers knew what had happened. Even the few who did weren't idiotic enough to go questioning the Akatsuki's children when they were out and about. It wasn't like Nagato would react well to his kids being questioned or harrassed if it turns out they were allowed to be out. Though, it was strange for the two boys to be out when one had clearly been hurt recently.

They entered the prison, easily passing by the many guards. Naruto did so with pride, clearly amused at how easy he could get past them, while Sasuke rolled his eyes at the blond's idiocy. They occasionally would hear a surprise guard and have to hide, but it was pretty easy considering who had raised them.

The only real issue was finding them. They had only been in the prison a few times before. It wasn't like it was a spot children would normally like to play around in. It took them some time, but eventually, they found the strong area. It was the most secure area, but more so from the inside than the out.

Once they got in, they were greeted with a somewhat sad sight. Itachi sat against the wall, knees against his chest with his head on his knees. His blindfold was back on, the older teen seemingly sleeping in the sitting up position.

Beside him was Kakashi, the man resting on his back. He was awake, the ninja looking up at the top of the prison with a tired look in his eyes. His view drifted to the kids as they entered, offering a smile despite their clear discomfort.

Tobi was sitting with his back to the others, facing the wall with his arms crossed. He was awake but sulking.

Naruto was about to move for Tobi first when he noticed Sasuke taking hold of his sleeve. He glanced back behind him to see what the matter was and he noticed Sasuke's gaze. The silver-haired man was motioning them over, though they were unsure whether to come forward or not.

Sasuke's choice was made for him as Naruto headed over, the older boy not wanting Naruto to be over there alone with him. Sasuke placed himself between Naruto and the man, looking him over suspiciously. Kakashi smiled at them as if he hadn't a care in the world. "Hello, boys. I'm surprised you're down here without any supervision. Come to visit Itachi, I'm guessing?"

Naruto nodded, "Mhm! Itachi and Tobi both. We want to talk to them. We're worried. We don't want them down here longer than needed. We want mom and dad to forgive them soon so we're trying to figure out-" his words being cut off as Sasuke swatted Naruto over the head.

"Dobe, shut up. Don't talk to people you've never met." he scolded, sending the younger warning looks. Naruto glared back at Sasuke, opening his mouth to argue back when they heard a light chuckle.

They turned their heads to see the Jonin chuckling to himself, both turning their glares onto him now. "You really are your fathers' sons. You both bicker just as bad as they used to." Kakashi mused. He noticed easily the way Sasuke's face seemed to harden and Naruto's seemed to brighten up.

"You knew my father?" he asked with interest. He had long got over his obsessive want to get to know the man, but he still was curious. Who wouldn't be?

Kakashi nodded, "He was my sensei when I was a genin. He was also in a quite well-known rivalry with Sasuke's dad, Fugaku." musing a bit at the thought. "How interesting that you two would end up together even without knowing of their friendship."

Sasuke gave a bitter agreeing nod. How interesting indeed. He didn't feel comfortable with the other man, but he had helped him quite a lot in the past few days. That had to account for something, even if he wasn't quite ready to be accepting new people to trust yet. "You were talking with Itachi the other day," he spoke flatly. "You better not be fucking with him. He's going to get out of here soon. He didn't do anything wrong."

Kakashi frowned a bit at this. It was sad, seeing how it was almost like he was trying to convince himself. "I know. I've just been chatting with him. He's as excited about you as ever." he mused. "You'd better wake him up soon if you're on a time limit. He's been worrying himself to death over you all week."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Sasuke headed over to where Itachi was sleeping, using the key to unlock the door. Naruto was beside him, the two entering the caged area with a frown. They didn't like the idea that one of their caretakers was being held in such a barbaric way. Sasuke and Naruto both squatted down, moving to sit with legs crossed. It didn't look like Itachi had woken up yet.

Naruto tilted his head at the older Uchiha, not used to seeing him in such a position. Sasuke reached over to remove the blind-fold once more, disliking it for obvious reasons. His movement was finally enough to catch Itachi's attention. The elder Uchiha's eyes opened slowly, glancing up at his younger brother. Itachi pressed his lips together into a slight frown. "Nagato said it'd be a few more days before you were allowed to visit," he noted. "You aren't still injured, are you?"

Sasuke shook his head back and forth at that. "No, don't worry. I'm mostly healed up now." he smiled, pointing to his tongue. "Kakuzu and Karin made it so I can talk again. My voice is just kinda different now." though he knew the difference in his vocals was obvious. "We aren't supposed to be down here, but we stole the key from Kisame and came to visit. We're worried about you."

Itachi gave the younger an amused look, tugging him forward and into a half hug. "It's good that you can talk now, but you don't have to be worried about me. You should be focusing on recovery." he chided lightly. He glanced at Naruto, "Neither of you should worry yourself with this."

"We probably should stay out of it." Sasuke admitted, "But we won't." a light smile lacing his lips.

Naruto nodded, a huge grin splitting across his face. "Yeah! We're going to get you out of here sooner. We just gotta convince mom and dad that you weren't going to hurt any of us on purpose. We know you'd never try and get us killed. You're too much of a mother hen for that."

Itachi gave a light 'tch' at the blond's joke, shaking his head back and forth. "With children like you, mother henning is the only way you'll survive. You're all reckless," he noted.

Naruto pouted a bit at that, Sasuke only rolling his eyes in annoyance. "Either way, we want you out sooner rather than later. We talked it out and we figure if you tell us the truth and we tell mom and dad we talked to you, they'll hear you out if we're clear enough that we don't think you did anything wrong. They won't listen if we just say it without even knowing more than the basics of what you're being accused of."

The eldest Uchiha gave a light nod, sighing a bit as he sat up and stretched as best he could. "You're both such troublesome children." he sighed, "If you insist, I suppose it couldn't hurt. I'll tell you both everything on the condition that you go straight back home after you finish your business here. Sasuke still needs to rest and I don't imagine Kisame will like you two stealing from him."

Itachi added as a second thought, "I'm only telling you this for two reasons. One, I trust you both not to tell anyone should you be captured. This Sasuke incident has helped me realize that you all aren't the toddlers playing in the sandbox anymore." he sighed. "And two, I don't think I want to side with the main village anymore. Not after all they've done."

The two nodded, sitting down in front of Itachi with a look of agreement. As Itachi began, Sasuke took a breath. "Back in the village, back when you two were still living there, I had been a spy." he sighed. "This was before the clan massacre. I was in the ANBU, a part of the village ninja force. I used this position to keep tabs on both the village and the clan." the older Uchiha sighing a bit. "The village didn't trust the clan and the clan didn't trust the village."

Itachi focused on Sasuke and Naruto, feeling Kakashi's gaze on him. "The clan leader had me give him classified information on the village. The Hokage and elders had me give classified information on the clan. It hearted up their distrust in each other as they heard the secrets that were being kept. Both of them. I only continued because if I cut off one of them it would only fuel their distrust in me and the opposite side. I kept it up for a while. I kept it up until our clan created a coup."

"A coup?" Sasuke asked in both surprise and horror. He had known his clan wasn't on the best terms with the village, but to try to take over completely?

Itachi nodded with a frown. "I told the village in hopes of both halves being able to sit down and have a civil conversation. They told me to focus on keeping the coup held back as long as possible. Shisui and I both were put in charge of this. I tried to convince my father against fighting the village, but he wouldn't listen. Shisui was going to force them to stop using a genjutsu, but an elder stole one of his eyes."

Sasuke noticed the way Itachi's voice quieted and frowned. "Cousin Shisui was part of it too?" his elder brother never really being open to discussing Shisui even after he began opening up a bit with Sasuke about the details of the massacre. It seemed like it was a sore topic for Itachi.

"He was. Unfortunately, the elder, Danzo, didn't believe our plan would work. He claimed it was only delaying the inevitable. So he stole Shisui's eye before we even got the chance to try a peaceful tactic." he looked pained as he spoke of his poor cousin's fate. "I arrived just in time to save his second eye, but Shisui realized something from the whole experience."

Itachi had a griefing look, sighing a bit. "Shisui realized that Danzo would be back for his eye. He couldn't perform the genjutsu with just one eye, so he made a sacrifice. He fell from the cliff next to the river, killing himself. He did this to awaken my mangekyo Sharingan. He knew that with the new power, I would be able to serve the village and clan much better."

Naruto frowned at this, clenching his fist against his pant's leg. He was growing to hate Konoha more and more each day, it seemed. How could they do that to one of the only two people who wanted to help?

"Once he was gone, Danzo summoned me. He gave me a choice. Side with my clan and let war break out." he frowned at the memory. "Or join the leaf and take down my clan. I agreed to kill the clan since Danzo said he said I would be allowed to spare Sasuke. The only condition was that I couldn't tell him why I had killed everyone or he would turn against the village." lightly moving to hold Sasuke's hand as he saw his little brother tremble with grief. "I know it hurts, but you can't attack the leaf or allow yourself to become set on vengeance. Understand?"

The teen nodded, hesitantly moving in to rest under Itachi's shoulder. Pride be damned, he needed the comfort. "I approached Tobi about wanting help killing our clan. He agreed, even offering me a spot in the Akatsuki. He went after the children and civilians. I just, couldn't stomach the idea of harming them. I went up against the police force and other shinobi." he decided not to go into detail concerning the special cases such as their mother, who he had felt he needed to end himself.

Naruto looked down a bit, feeling a bit out of place as Itachi spoke of something so personal. His outsider view was shattered however as Itachi tugged him over and under his arm, into a light half hug. It was identical to how he was holding Sasuke. "I headed for the Akatsuki after that. The plan was to be a spy until Sasuke grew old enough to avenge our clan. The only issue was Konan." he smiled thinly.

"She wanted a child of her own. I guess it stems from her and Nagato being orphaned too. They wanted to just get Sasuke, but a few other brats felt the need to tag along." Itachi teased, forehead leaning against Naruto's, the boy's cheeks tinting red but grinning at that. "So instead of one, we got five, and later a sixth. Our own little Akatsuki angels."

Sasuke blushed a bit at that, playfully punching Itachi's arm. "Don't be weird about it, nii-san."

Itachi chuckled a bit at his younger brother's shyness, shaking his head back and forth. "Anyway, we brought you all home. It was like a train wreck occurred. No one could get any work done because they were too busy loving on you all." he mused. "I continued sending the reports for a while, just to make sure they didn't immediately realize I stopped around the time you went missing. I timed it so it would seem I stopped because you were all missing. I haven't sent any updates to the village since then. So it's been, what, eight? Seven? Years since then."

Naruto and Sasuke both leaned on the elder, Naruto mentioning, "I think they'll let you out soon. No, I know they will. They could never lock you up too long. Because you're their family just as much as you say we are." the blond grinned happily, Sasuke smirking with a nod. Itachi would be out in no time.

Tobi snorted a bit at the children's positivity. He earned himself a glare from not only the kids and Itachi but Kakashi as well. Tobi didn't know what this guy could hold against him, but he didn't particularly care. "As if it's that easy. You brats might get special treatment because you're the 'Akatsuki angels'" using the phrase as an insult now rather than the sweet way Itachi had. "But Itachi will get no such treatment. He's been a burden to the organization for longer than any of you realize. This will be the perfect excuse to have him removed." he spoke with a bit of smugness.

Sasuke and Naruto both felt a wave of confusion wash over them, Itachi giving the older Uchiha a harsh glare. "Tobi, shut up."

"Oh, yes, you haven't told them yet. You kiddos want to hear about Itachi's big bad secret?"

By now Itachi was openly angered, eyes narrowed as he lightly moved forwards in his restrictions. "Tobi! I swear to fucking Indra himself if you tell them-" his Sharingan blazing weakly due to his restricted chakra. "They aren't ready to know! They just got back and Sasuke is still injured! For once, stay quiet." he bit out.

Tobi smirked, speaking in a full and serious voice, "You all know Itachi is sick, but not the full extent." he smirked from under his mask. "Itachi Uchiha is not only suffering from an illness, but he's also dying from one. Itachi Uchiha will die at the maximum age of thirty-five. His death will be slow and agonizing as he continues to spew up his own blood every morning. He will continue to barely be able to hold up his arm because pain shoots through it every time it does. He'll slowly cripple until he's completely useless. It's only progressing faster due to his obsessive worrying over his brats rather than himself-"

His words were cut off by a strong punch to the face. The youngest Uchiha in the room had wasted no time in unlocking the doors, charging over to his eldest clansmen. He practically threw himself at the elder ninja, ignoring the fact that this had been one of the many ninjas who had raised him over the years, instead letting out an almost primal scream as he attacked.

Sasuke lept onto the man's lap, grabbing his face and hitting him as hard as he could. The teen could feel Tobi reach up to grab for his wrists, but the chains kept him restricted enough that Sasuke easily ripped his wrists away. Instead, he was able to turn the defense around, hands roughly grabbing at the masked ninja's arms. Sasuke growled, "Shut the hell up! Itachi's sickness is his to talk about when he wants to! It's not for you to decide when we learn about it!"

He was sick of Tobi. Sick of him so clearly playing pretend. Sasuke had tried to lie to himself and say maybe Tobi wasn't at fault, but it was no use. Tobi killed his clan. Tobi manipulated him into betraying Itachi's advice. Tobi left him for dead. Tobi was the reason he was nearly beat into a coma by the villages on multiple occasions. Even after it was all said and done he had the nerve to not feel a shred of guilt. To top it all off, he even began insulting Itachi to his face! Sasuke didn't know what it was that had come over him, but he was done.

He remained squarely on the elder's lap, feet kicking out to strike both of Tobi's wrists. There was a small crunch from each of them, but Sasuke didn't particularly care. At least now his hands were out of the way. "Keep your damn hands to yourself!" the teen barked, ignoring Naruto as the blond did his best to pull Sasuke off Tobi.

A new wave of rage washed over Sasuke as he looked at the mask, Tobi's one eye glaring harshly at the teen. "Get off of me, you idiotic little speck." the man demanded, Sasuke reaching up to rip the mask from his face. Tobi's mask seemed to finally shatter. He no longer looked overly playful or dangerously serious, no, now there was only a look of baffled fear as his mask was ripped off.

"I might be a speck but at least I don't hide behind a damn mask!" he growled, tossing the orange mask to the side and reaching his elbow up. He sent it down on Tobi's newly revealed face, ignoring the obvious scarring. Sasuke repeated this, not able to hold himself back as he heard the yells from not only Naruto but now Itachi and Kakashi as well.

"Sasuke!" Itachi spoke in a demanding yet pleading voice. "Get off of Tobi, now! Sasuke, don't let him provoke you!" the man practically begged, his sudden pleas getting cut off as he broke into a coughing fit. Naruto's eyes widened as he looked over his shoulder and saw Itachi kneeling over, the blond looking conflicted between staying with Sasuke or going for Itachi. Finally, he made his choice.

The blond ran out of the room as he heard Sasuke's elbow make a sickening crack as it met with Tobi's skull, swallowing down his tears. The blond ran as fast as he could for the nearby hide-out, knowing even the jonin of their village might have trouble with pulling Sasuke off Tobi. The teen had run into the house screaming bloody murder, hoping it would be fast enough to end the fight. The state Sasuke was in, well, Naruto had never seen it before. It was like he was looking to kill Tobi. As strong as Naruto was, there was no way he could stop Sasuke in that crazed state. "Mom! Dad! Kisame!" he called for anyone who might be in the house, knowing a few would be back from their missions by now.

He was met with the rushed responses of Kisame, Sasori, Hidan, and Konan. The latter ordered Naruto to stay inside with everyone else as the blond panicked. "Sasuke's trying to kill Tobi! He's going to kill him, mom! I can't get him off him!"

Naruto stayed put, but only once Neji grabbed his arm and forced him to sit down on the couch. The other Akatsuki members rushed off to see what was happening, but by the time they arrived, a large amount of damage had already been done.

Sasuke was on top of Tobi, the teen now shoving his fingers into the elder man's eye sockets as he yelled, "I hate you! All you've ever done is manipulate us! I fucking hate you!" hitting the man's head against the wall in pure anger. They could see the tears pouring out of the teen's eyes, the boy clearly in pain.

Kisame quickly moved to aid Itachi, who was now kelt over with bits of blood running down his cheek from all the yelling. Sasori pulled up his puppets to keep Kakashi where he was. He didn't want the man who, strangely enough, was in a hell frozen shock to take this as a good time to run. Konan looked frozen for a moment as she watched her son brawl against Tobi in such a crazed state. Hidan suggested, "We could just let him finish the fucker off. It might be good for him to cope." shrugging a bit as he held his scythe just in case.

Konan sent him a dirty look, "No. Tobi's a bastard but he helped raise Sasuke. It'll scar him more than he already has." the woman moving over to pull Sasuke off Tobi with the help of Hidan, who moved to do so only with a huff of annoyance.

Meanwhile, Sasuke growled as he was pulled off the now motionless shinobi. His eyes were bleeding a bright red, though it wasn't his typical Sharingan. His three tomoe now drew together into one design, his mangekyo Sharingan activating as he let out his anger onto the man whom he had been partly raised by.

Sasuke felt warmth surrounding him as he glared daggers at the motionless man, only stopping as he felt the warmth tighten around him. He still shook with anger, eyeing the man, but no longer running away as he felt the familiar embrace of his mother. He could hear her distant shushing, the woman wrapping one arm so her hand was resting firmly on his back while the other pressed his head to her shoulder. He felt her lightly rubbing his hair, his anger slowly melting away.

He let out a sob, but not one of pain. For the first time in what seemed like forever, it was one of relief. A smile laced his lips, which he hid in Konan's robes as he felt her comforting him. It was over. Tobi was dead, and he was happy. He wouldn't be like Tobi. He would be honest with himself and others, he decided. He'd never been one to lay claim to a ninja way before, but he easily decided right then and there that it would be his. He would never allow himself to be wrapped in lies. It never seemed to get anyone he'd ever known anywhere. As such, he wasn't ashamed or guilty as he laughed lightly in relief, holding onto his mother.