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12th Year of Danzo's Rule

Itachi flew through the forest, hopping from branch to branch as he tracked Sasuke's stumbling path. His brother had been running desperately and recklessly, barely keeping ahead of his pursuer. The sharingan caught sight of a few small drops of blood on the forest floor, and Itachi sucked in a breath, trying to calm his thundering heart. Sasuke was often quiet and brooding, but he was astute and a quick-learner; he could hold his own for a little while. Still, against a fully-trained Root nin, Itachi had to be realistic. He forced his legs to pump faster, allowing his eyes to quickly pick up on information.

After only a couple minutes more, Itachi could sense Sasuke's weakened chakra signature. He felt almost sick at the wave of relief that washed through him, but didn't slow his pace; there was still someone with Sasuke, someone with an evil tinted chakra signature that he vaguely thought he recognized. A clearing was ahead, with signs of a fight out front of an old house. Itachi, with killing intent creating an intimidating pressure around him, leaped softly on the roof and crossed to the back of the house before flipping himself around and swinging feet first through a kitchen window.

He would have thrown a kunai at the other person in the room had his sharingan not immediately processed that it was just another boy, who was in no way harming Sasuke but rather hiding behind his otouto. Itachi stared at the two for another moment before lowering his arm and letting the sharingan fade.

"Otouto, I…" Itachi took a deep breath, unable to continue. You nearly scared me to death.

Luckily, his little brother seemed to understand. Sasuke limped away from the other boy to briefly wrap his skinny arms around Itachi's midsection, whispering a soft Nii-san.

"Is the Root shinobi dead?"

Sasuke nodded and cut his eyes toward the boy who had shoved himself into the corner of the kitchen. "We killed him. And I used the jutsu to burn the body."

Itachi nodded and poked Sasuke's forehead before turning to study his brother's companion. The whiskers and patchy blond hair just beginning to grow on the boy's head registered in his mind, and though the boy curled his body inwards and braced himself against the wall in an untrusting way, his bright blue eyes glared fiercely at Itachi.

So this was Shisui's cellmate. The jinchuuriki. Strange, but fortunate, that Sasuke had run into him. He softened his expression slightly and nodded toward the boy. "Thank you for helping my otouto, Naruto-kun."

Naruto shifted uneasily, looking very much like a trapped animal. "How… how do you know my name?"

"I'm Uchiha Itachi. My cousin, Shisui, told me all about you a couple of nights ago."

Blue eyes widened and Naruto leaned forward slightly. "Where is Shisui? How is he? He was supposed to meet me back here five days ago!"

"He is all right, Naruto-kun. It took me a couple of days to rendezvous with him, and he was ill for a while, but he is safe and in good hands now." Itachi caught the accusing stare Sasuke gave him for not sharing that Shisui was one of the escaped prisoners, or that he was found by Itachi and given refuge. "It was safer that you didn't know, Sasuke."

Naruto chewed on his lip with a long canine. "Shisui's been sick for some time. Orochimaru-sensei would give him medicine, but it didn't seem to help much."

Itachi kept his face blank at the mention of Orochimaru-sensei. He motioned to Sasuke to let him see his injuries, and check that they were well taken care of. "I think that solid meals, rest, and plenty of iryou-ninjutsu have helped Shisui greatly."

He ran gentle fingers over the bandages on Sasuke's shoulder, before nudging his brother onto a stool and kneeling to check the splinting of his ankle. Naruto had done a decent job, it would hold. A plan was beginning to form in the back of his mind as he pushed green colored medical chakra into his hand and ran it over Sasuke's form. He wasn't skilled enough to heal, but he could at least breathe energy into the cells and ensure there would be no infection.

"Sasuke, I think you should stay here while you heal."

His brother cocked his head. "Won't they notice that I am missing when I don't check in for curfew?"

Itachi shook his head, but couldn't meet his brother's dark eyes. "That is all right. I will erase your tracks from the village and through the forest, and the location of this safe house will remain unknown to Root. When you are able to walk…you won't be returning to Konoha."

Sasuke froze in surprise. He stared at Itachi with alarm and no small amount of pleading, and his fingers curled tightly into the fabric of his pants. "No, Itachi-nii, please."

Itachi just stood, and put his hands on either of Sasuke's shoulders, squeezing none too gently. He then turned to Naruto, who was still watching warily. "Will you allow me to see to your injuries too, Naruto?"

The blond boy's whiskered face twisted into a scowl and he shook his head no. Itachi conceded. "Sasuke will stay with you for a couple of days. I will talk to Shisui and return then, if you two could gather some supplies and rest, you'll be going on a long journey."

Two pairs of eyes glared at Itachi, but he didn't give them time to argue, he quickly performed a shunshin into the forest to begin the laborious task of erasing the signs of the battle and tracks leading to the old house.


Naruto let out a growl. "Is your brother always such an ass, teme?"

Sasuke glared at him but didn't seem to be in the mood to give a reply. Naruto muttered whatever and wandered to the bedroom in which he had been staying. Both Itachi and Sasuke were annoying asses, their know-it-all attitudes rubbed him the wrong way, and while he sensed neither of them were intentionally rude, he was also a little afraid of them. Cousins they may be, but they were nothing like Shisui-nii. Naruto found himself sniffling. He wanted nothing more than to be back in the Root prison, in his small, dark cell and in his small, uncomfortable cot listening to one of Shisui's stories. He crawled under the bed, where he had setup a couple of pillows and dragged the shurikan covered comforter down, and laid on his stomach before getting to work on his latest sealing project.

Naruto had been working for three hours before he heard the uneven thumping of Sasuke's footsteps. He would have fallen asleep, but nightmares of the Root prison had plagued him every night for the last week, and he was not ready to visit them again. Naruto watched from the floor as the bedroom door creaked open and Sasuke's feet stopped. The other boy walked around the bed briefly before slowly getting to his hands and knees and peering at Naruto under the bed.

"What the hell are you doing under there, weirdo?"

Naruto gave a shrug. "Working."

Sasuke eyed the mess of papers and almost empty ink jar. "Hn. Is there anything to eat other than ration bars?"

Naruto shrugged again. "Not really, I think this is just a house used temporarily in emergencies, and whoever lived here before obviously isn't coming back."

"Hn. They left all this old stuff here. It's creepy."

Eyeing the other boy, Naruto gave a mischievous grin. "Well maybe we could explore, find some cool things, supplies to take with us wherever we're going when your brother returns?"

Sasuke nodded and stood while Naruto crawled out from under the bed. He couldn't help but grin again as they took off down the hallway. The next room they entered appeared to be another guest room, with a bed and empty bookshelf, but more books and scrolls tucked away in the closet. Many of them were about training, or gardening and cooking, and several were old fantasy stories that had been printed over fifty years ago. Sasuke looked at the books with interest, and put them on the floor outside the room to remember to take them with him when returning to his guest room.

The next room, the last one in the hall was a master suite. Unlike the others, it wasn't covered in sheets, and everything was covered in a fine layer of dust and dirt. A copy of the same picture of a long haired man with a silver-haired child on his shoulders was found on the nightstand, and an assortment of kunai and short swords was haphazardly placed in rows on a cot by the window. Cleaning and sharpening tools were left by the weapons.

Naruto shifted uncomfortably. "It's like whoever was here just disappeared, and didn't know he wouldn't be coming back."

"It's strange it wasn't cleaned out like the rest of the rooms." Sasuke slowly crossed over to the chest of drawers, peeking inside. He held up a man's navy blue ninja shirt and an old kunai pouch before gasping, "Naruto, look!"

Sasuke dug deeper in the bottom drawer, and pulled out an old fashioned ANBU mask with the face of a dog painted elegantly on the surface. "This is a real ANBU mask, from before the Hokage's rule."

They studied the armor and weapons more closely, paying attention to the scratched matte-finish on the chest plates and arm guards. This room made the house and the family that lived there previously more real, and Naruto felt a shiver run down his spine. The empty child's room he had originally intruded hadn't given him the forlorn feeling that this room did. "Let's explore elsewhere, Sasuke. There's still the upstairs."

But on their way up the creaking wooden stairs, Naruto didn't feel any better. The air seemed thicker, the hall darker. There was only a small loft and single door on the second floor. Naruto watched as Sasuke pushed the door open, revealing a dusty study. Sasuke was about to step in and head for the numerous bookshelves, but stopped, paling as he stared at the ground.

Following his gaze, Naruto found his stomach dropping. There was a dark stain on the wooden floor, obviously scrubbed at, but still apparent and forever embedded into the grain. Blood. Sasuke stepped backwards, almost colliding with Naruto. He forcefully shut the door and the two boys scurried downstairs. Naruto caught Sasuke's eyes and a silent agreement passed between them to never go upstairs again.

Needing to break the tension and focus on something else, Naruto turned to Sasuke. "Uh…come on, I can show you what I've been working on for the last couple of days. Do you know anything about sealing?"


Shikamaru had been summoned by the Hokage. It had been almost a year since he had last been called to visit his father, and while he ached to see him now, anticipation curled in his stomach and made his hands shake. The Hokage was furious. Whoever had escaped from the Root prison ten days prior was highly important; this was the longest the village had been on lockdown. Shikamaru knew this visit wouldn't be like the others. He remembered Choza's words before they had left to inform Danzo of Mizuki-sensei's treasonous intentions. Don't, for one second, think that he won't hurt you. Shikamaru could guess what was coming.

Rather than inviting Shikamaru into his office, the Hokage stepped out, immediately placing a hand on his shoulder and steering the boy toward the stairs while nodding for a Root shinobi to take Shikamaru's bag. The only sound was the echo of their footsteps on the stone and Shikamaru's trembling breath. He couldn't hide his fear and sorrow. As much as he wanted to appear strong and show undying resentment and hatred for the Hokage, Shikamaru could only try and quell the panging in his chest. They were not heading toward Shikaku's usual cell, but instead further downstairs.

A long dark hall extended before Shikamaru, it was cold and quiet except for the faint chiming of chains. Coming from the left of the hall, warm yellow light was spilling out, and when Danzo led Shikamaru into the light so that it almost blinded his left eye, he didn't want to turn his head and look. The old man's hand gripped the back of his neck and forced Shikamaru to turn.

His father was on his knees, but had his wrists strung up to the wall behind him by chains so that he was at an awkward angle leaning back toward the wall. There were bruises on his face and chest, with small slashes here and there, but what worried Shikamaru more was how thin and dehydrated his father appeared. His eyes were bloodshot and his ribs stuck out and he was trembling. Danzo placed a heavy metal key in Shikamaru's palm.

"You may release him and take him back to his cell." The old man hesitated for a minute. "Today, you may have an exception from the usual rules."

The Hokage then turned to leave, shuffling back down the dark hall. Shikamaru gripped the key in his hand and growled in frustration. He stepped closer to his father, wrinkling his nose at the man's sweaty stench. He gently patted Shikaku's unbruised cheek and waited until his brown eyes focused on him.

"Tou-san." Shikamaru can feel tears start to flow down his face, but Shikaku just smiles at him.

Moving slowly, trying to cause his dad the least amount of pain, Shikamaru wraps an arm under Shikaku's shoulders and lifts him up just enough to reach down and unfold his dad's legs so that they lie straight out in front of him. He reaches up with the key then to try and unlock the cuffs around the man's wrists, but curses when he realized he can't do so with one hand. He has to let Shikaku hang with his whole weight to grab the cuff and insert the heavy key. The man grunts as his arm is released and falls to the ground.

"Try and hold on," Shikamaru says as he bends to grab the freed arm and wrap it around his own shoulders. His dad's hand desperately grips Shikamaru's back, but he barely has the ability to hold himself off of the floor.

"Tou-san, if you fall, I don't know if I have the strength to pick you up again. Please, please hold on tight."

Shikamaru can't help the sob that rips through his lips, as his father grunts and fumbles his way to a stronger hold. He quickly reaches up to release the second cuff before dropping the key and wrapping both arms around Shikaku's chest. He backs up and twists until his father's leaning on Shikamaru's back and slowly makes his way toward the stairs. Four flights. I can do this.

Both he and his father are huffing and stumbling, and on the second flight, Shikaku completely passes out. Shikamaru is able to lean the man against the wall and brace him upright, rubbing on his sternum. Thankfully, Shikaku comes to and is able to again collapse on his son as they continue stumbling. Shikamaru's shoulders and arms and legs ache and Shikaku's face is grey and taught with exhaustion and pain and they have to take a break after every three steps, but they eventually make it upstairs. He drags his dad over to the cot in the cell and tries to lay him down gently but ends up just dumping the man on the bed and collapsing to the floor.

He notices his bag in the corner of the room by the door and reaches over to grab it. Shikamaru unscrews the cap of his water canteen and tries to lift his father's head as he tips small sips into Shikaku's mouth.

Shikamaru is given all afternoon and night to look after Shikaku. He helps him drink and feeds him small bites of food, he cleans the cuts and rubs salve on the bruises, he rubs his limbs as they cramp from being strung up for too long, and he cries. This visit, they're allowed to talk, but Shikamaru can't bring himself to share what has happened since he last saw his father. He doesn't know what to say other than this is my fault. I spoke out against the Hokage. I let anger control my actions and words. I wasn't cautious enough. I failed.

Shikaku seemed to know anyway. He just smiled kindly. You did the right thing.

Not for this, Tou-san, nothing is worth this punishment.

No family is above another. You did right by the Inuzuka.

His dad slept. Shikamaru did not.