Chapter: Thirty

Title: Exchange

Author: Juniper11

Beta: BlueArcticWolf

Chapter Thirty

Exchange

"Uchiha Sasuke, you are hereby issued with an S-Class Mission. Your objective is to go to the alter world and neutralize or eliminate the threat known as Danzo. Once this has been completed, you will no longer be a ninja of this dimension. We have decided to send you to be a permanent resident of the alter world. You are to gain the trust of a ninja that also goes by the name of-"

"No," Itachi murmured, his voice like darkness itself.

"-Uchiha Sasuke and together you will start rebuilding the-"

"I will not allow you to send Sasuke away."

"-Uchiha Clan. You are to make as many alliances as possible but first and foremost you must strengthen their Konoha. Strengthen their trust in the Uchiha once more. I trust-"

"The Uchiha Clan is my clan; my responsibility!"

"-No one more than you with this mission."

"You cannot just send him away. He's my little brother! He's my responsibility! I will not allow you to throw him to the wolves!"

Tsunade finally turned and faced Itachi, ice dripped from her eyes and venom from her voice. Saku hated when her mentor's voice took on that tone since it usually meant that pain was imminent.

"First and foremost Sasuke is a ninja of this village. He will do his duty."

Itachi opened his mouth but before he could say anything further a hand touched him on his arm.

"Itachi," Sasuke said. There was such wisdom in those eyes so like his own. Itachi could not help but remember the little boy who would constantly beg him to practice ninjutsu, throwing kunai, or to simply spar. He remembered every joke, every argument, every laugh and tear. This was not just some ninja of Konoha, but his own flesh and blood.

"I want to do this. I can do this."

Itachi shook his head slowly. "You want me to abandon you to an uncertain fate."

Sasuke snorted, ready to fire back a retort, but Sakura stepped in smoothly, putting her hand on Itachi's other arm.

"No one's fate is certain. If that was the case then your choices in this world would have been the same choices that were made in my own. We make our own path." Itachi hadn't walked out of the office so Sakura took that as a sign of encouragement. "My Sasuke trusts no one but himself. Who better to send in my place than another him? Someone he could possibly see as family, someone who wouldn't remind him of you and the pain he feels now that his older brother is gone. He could potentially ease Sasuke's pain more than I ever could. Can't you see that this could quite possibly be the best possible solution?"

"It would not," Itachi said immediately, negating her statement. "You fail to take into consideration one very important factor."

"And what factor would that be?" Tsunade asked with her eyes narrowed and arms folded across her chest. Itachi wasn't the one to reply though. Instead, Kakashi spoke up for the first time.

"That factor would be that the other Sasuke is insane. His actions and reactions to everything cannot be predicted. The fact of the matter is that should we send our Sasuke there and the other Sasuke sees how different his life could have been then it could possibly make him want to come here-which would put us back at square one."

Sakura blinked several times. "I hadn't thought of that. It's a possibility. Although, I wouldn't exactly call him insane."

Itachi snorted and Sakura glared in response.

Kakashi, vaguely noting the exchange, nodded and then said, "Then at this point, to isolate this potential crisis, I think we should send Sasuke to the alter world…and exchange him with the other."

Saku shook her head. "Kakashi, that still leaves us with the same problem. Sakura or I will have to go with him."

"You're right." Kakashi said with a shrug of his shoulders. "But it does eliminate the bigger problem."

:::

Sakura sat and watched while Itachi paced back and forth in front of Sasuke. The tenseness of his shoulders and the roiling anger in his eyes had the girl squirming in her seat. She tossed a look at Sasuke, who seemed as perturbed as his brother. Sakura sighed, having no idea how to handle the situation. He had been testy enough the first time she brought up sending Sasuke to her world. She had no idea how he would act now that he knew Sasuke was willing to go. She'd like to let the storm that was brewing blow over but that was probably asking for too much.

"Why would you do this, little brother? Why would you volunteer for this madness?" Sakura bit her lip to keep silent. She knew this was something that had to be settled between the two brothers otherwise nothing would come to fruition. It was hard keeping quiet but it wasn't like she had much choice in the matter.

"Is it madness, Itachi?" Sasuke countered. "It would kill you and Kakashi to part with either of your women. To me it wouldn't be much of a problem." Sakura gasped, shocked to realize Sasuke's reasoning. He was doing this…for Itachi. Sakura glanced back and forth between the brothers, wondering if they realized just how much they loved each other. In her world, Sasuke had been so full of hatred for his brother that seeing what could have been brought an ache to her heart. She couldn't fathom the lengths these two men would go to help one another.

"You'd leave your whole family behind? Your friends?"

"My family has never thought too much of me to begin with, Itachi. I'm not angry about it. I'm just saying they won't miss me."

"And what of Mother?"

"Mother is a survivor. She'll be just fine." Neither man mentioned Fugaku and it was something that made Sakura's stomach clench in response. Sakura looked at Itachi's face and knew instinctively that there was something else lurking beneath the surface of his face. It didn't take her long to identify it, perhaps because she recognized it. The pain of watching someone you care about leaving everything behind, even if the reasoning behind it was different, it still had to hurt. Sakura's heart went out to Itachi.

"And what of Itachi?" Sakura said softly, drawing Sasuke's gaze to her. "The whole Uchiha Clan may be fine without you, but will Itachi?"

"That's enough, Sakura," Itachi said cuttingly.

"No, Itachi. It's time you faced the truth. In fact, it's time we all did. I don't know why I didn't see it to this depth before but your love for Sasuke knows no bounds. In that sense you are the same as the Itachi of my world. As far as priorities go he has always been the most important thing in the world to you. if the village is your first then Sasuke is second. It's your nature to protect him and if he leaves this place then he leaves that protection behind."

"I can take care of myself," Sasuke groused.

"Yes, you can," Sakura agreed. "And it's time that Itachi acknowledged that as well." Both Sakura and Sasuke turned to look at Itachi, who shoulders stiffened at their perusal. They sat waiting for Itachi to say something, anything to acknowledge Sakura's words but their wait was in vain, because Itachi simply turned and strode out the room.

:::

Kakashi found that he sought out her presence more than could help. What was it about her that kept pulling him back?

"Itachi is never going to agree to sending Sasuke to the alter world," Saku said shortly after Itachi, Sakura, and Sasuke had left the Hokage's office. They still sat with the Hokage, who scowled at Saku's statement.

"It's not his decision. It's time that little boy learned that he doesn't have the power to control the world."

Saku just shook her head and Kakashi remained silent, thinking that perhaps he should leave since he was no longer needed…yet he didn't budge.

"Why didn't you ask me to talk to him about it? I could have made him see reason."

"Do you honestly think he would have listened to anything you had to say given the situation between you two?" Tsunade countered.

"He doesn't hate me."

"He doesn't particularly like you either. Your words will not hold the sway they once did on him. You know that as well as I."

"Still…" The whole conversation was getting on Kakashi's nerves. It simply served to remind him that Itachi and Saku were once together, once very close, and once very intimate with one another. It was something he'd rather forget, however it wasn't something that he could. Like it or not Itachi was part of Saku's past and the past doesn't just go away. He knew that better than anyone.

"There's nothing else to be done, Saku."

Kakashi cleared his throat. "And yet the situation still remains unresolved."

Tsunade stared at Kakashi curiously. She hadn't thought his mind was on the conversation but apparently she was wrong.

"Am I to assume you have come up with a solution?" Kakashi glanced at Saku briefly who only looked back curiously. Kakashi shifted uneasily in his seat, knowing that what he was going to say was probably going to make him look like an ass-but he didn't see anyone else coming up with any brilliant ideas so….

"Actually, yes, I think I have."

When he said nothing further Tsunade said testily, "Enlighten us, please, Hatake."

"Well, in light of the other Sasuke's alleged insanity," Kakashi briefly noticed Saku shiver and wondered what, exactly, happened with her interactions with the Uchiha. "I still think it prudent that we bring him here."

"You want me to bring a madman into our world?" Kakashi glanced at Saku and noticed that she appeared to be immensely uncomfortable with the idea as well.

"Yes because it is rather possible that bringing him here will tame the beast within." Kakashi saw the light dawning in the eyes of the women and continued. "His sanity began to deteriorate because of the loss of his family. If you give them back…"

"He slowly begins to heal." Tsunade finished. "Okay so we bring him here then he no longer is a threat. Then we need to send two people back. Sasuke and who else?"

Kakashi slowly shook his head. "That's where the problem lies. Itachi is going to fight tooth and nail everyone and anything that tries to send his brother to that world, unless we send…him."

Saku shook her head. "Itachi is going to be the next Kage! There's no way he can leave. He has a responsibility to the village as well as to his clan. It's not a possibility."

"And why does Itachi have to be the next Kage?" Kakashi asked, even though he already suspected somewhat the secret. Saku and Tsunade fell silent at the question and an uneasy silence fell over the room. Kakashi sighed and said, "Could it perhaps be because of some treaty made with the Uchiha Clan?"

Tsunade cleared her throat. "Actually, yes, it's something like that."

"Then if an Uchiha has to be Kage…why can't Sasuke do it?"

Both women looked at Kakashi, their eyes blinking slowly as if their minds couldn't compute the question.

"You're talking about Sasuke? Our Sasuke? As Kage?" Saku asked while Tsunade simply started laughing hysterically.

"I never thought you hated the boy, Kakashi, but now I see otherwise." Tsunade said slapping her knee while her shoulders shook with mirth.

Kakashi stared at them puzzled.

"Come on Kakashi," Saku began, "Sasuke can be depended on for some things but as a Kage? He'd rather commit suicide. It's way too much responsibility for him. In fact, to be honest, I was surprised to see him offer to go to the alter world in my place."

"He's not as bad as all that," Tsunade interjected. "The boy knows how to pick his sake. He's alright in my book." Saku refrained from rolling her eyes while Tsunade cackled.

"It wouldn't work, Kakashi."

"How do you know? You're basing everything upon supposition. We all know that in a pinch Sasuke can be counted on. What would change that now?"

Saku and Tsunade were silent while they processed that information. Tsunade broke the silence. "He'd drive the elders crazy, but they'd trust him a hell of a lot more than they trust Itachi. However, the clan itself wouldn't dare trust Sasuke. He's too wild and rebellious. His power is unstable and he's more stubborn than a mule. In short, the clan doesn't want him because they can't control him. He is their black sheep after all-just the way Itachi wanted him to be."

"Wait, are you saying that Itachi is responsible for Sasuke's estrangement from his family?" Saku asked incredulously. It didn't seem like the Itachi she knew to deliberately damage someone's relationship-especially not Sasuke's relationship with his family.

"I'm saying that genetically speaking Sasuke is Mikoto and Fugaku's child, but he is in fact, the child of Itachi's heart. It was Itachi who taught Sasuke everything he knows. Itachi trained him to be a top ninja, as well as allowed him to develop a personality not conducive to the desires of the clan. He raised him to be a man who can be respected and trusted -and the Uchiha Clan knows it. Hell, I trust Sasuke more than I trust Itachi."

"So are you somehow saying that Sasuke's flaky, annoying nature is all Itachi's doing? How can that be? Itachi is the polar opposite. It doesn't make sense that Itachi would make Sasuke into a spoiled brat."

"Sasuke is spoiled but he takes his responsibility seriously. You know that. It's why he gets away with so much stuff-within the clan and out of it."

"This is going to make a mess."

"Yes," Tsunade said with a bloodthirsty smile. "Yes, it is, but I sense a loophole somewhere in here and I intend to flaunt it-and I'll leave you two to deal with Naruto."

Saku's mouth dropped open.