Not Alone

Shikaku and Haruka walked to the hospital in silence. Shikaku was letting Haruka soak everything in. After a few minutes, he opened his mouth.

"You need to get checked when we get there."

"What?" she asked, in a daze.

"The team still needs to get check out at the hospital," was his reply.

"Right. I'll do that after I talk to the kids. They need me more than I need a doctor," replied Haruka as they got closer to the hospital.

'I should let her and the two kids stay with me while we fix up the compound. It will be troublesome, but I am her Sensei,' thought Shikaku with a sigh.

The two finally made it to the hospital. When they walked in, they went directly to the front desk. The lady at the front desk was going to say something when Haruka cut her off.

"Where are Sasuke and Michiru Uchiha?" she asked. The lady glared at her.

"I don't need to tell you that. What right do you think you have to come in here and ask for those poor children? Do you think that getting close to them will get you something?" accused the lady, bring people's attention to them.

'Did this bitch seriously just called me a gold digger! I gonna fucking kill her!' thought Haruka as she got ready to attack. Luckily for the lady, Shikaku cut in.

"She is their last living relative. Haruka Uchiha. I believe she has the right to see those children as she is fairly close to them," he told the women with a glare. 'I feel like I should have let Haruka get her, but I am her Sensei, so I have to look out for her. What a drag.'

"U-Uchiha?" said the lady in shock. Another nurse quickly intervened.

"Miss Uchiha! They're this way! Please follow me!" she said as she led the two ninja toward the children. "Something you should understand is that the children haven't been very responsive. They may or may not respond well when they see you."

The three walked along the corridors and up some stairs to a room. The nurse walked up to the door.

"Michiru, Sasuke, you have a visitor," said a nurse as she opened the door. The two didn't look up, simply continued to stare at their laps.

"Is that how I get greeted?" asked a familiar female voice. The two looked up in shock to see Haruka there along with her Sensei.

"Haruka-nee!" yelled the two children as they jumped off the bed and ran into her arms. They cried as she hugged them close to her.

"I'm sorry you two had to go through that while I was away, but I'm here now. I will protect both of you," said Haruka as she glanced at her Sensei. Shikaku Nara nodded at her.

"I'm going to go. You three can stay with me while we clean up the compound," he told them. Haruka smiled.

"Thank you. Your son is their age, right? I think it would be nice for them to have someone else around."

"Yes. He has several friends that I'm sure will be there. I'll see you later. Make sure to get check before you leave, Haruka."

"I know," said Haruka in a tired voice as her Sensei walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"Are you hurt!" asked Sasuke in fear.

"I'm exhausted, more than anything," she said with a sigh. "Let's go sit on the bed. I have to talk to you both about some things." 'I don't sense any Anbu nearby, that's good.'

"First, I'm going to tell you what happened on my mission. It's important that I do. Second, I want you both to tell me what happened, in detail. I know that scares you, but the more I know, the better I can understand. Thirdly, we will discuss what will happen from here. Do you both understand?" asked Haruka as she sat the two children on the bed next to each other, Sasuke on the right and Michiru on the left.

"Yes," said the children as she looked at them. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

"Okay. First, don't be scared from what your about to see," she said as she opened her eyes to show them her Mongekyo Sharingan. They both gasped.

"How did you?" asked Michiru in shock.

"Itachi said that you had to kill your best friend!" screamed Sasuke in anger.

"No. You don't," said Haruka, shocking the two children as she turned her eyes back to normal. "One of my teammates died in front of me. He was like a brother to me. That is what activated this. It's a misconception that we have to be the killer. Simply losing someone you love is enough."

"Then why did Itachi say that?" asked Sasuke, confused and angered.

"It might be because that's what he thinks causes it."

"So, we don't have to kill our best friend to get them?" question Michiru in fear.

"No," said Haruka causing the two to sigh in relief. "Now tell me what happened."

The two children went on to tell her about everything they could remember from that day. From when they left school, to when they confronted Itachi. They told their story with faces full of tears, but they kept strong.

"What are we going to do?" asked Sasuke.

"Well first, I need to figure out why Itachi did this," replied Haruka as she looked at them. 'Though I already know why. I have to make them think about it.'

"But we already told you why," said Michiru in confusion.

"But I don't think that's the truth. Not that I don't believe that's what he told you. But I've known Itachi for a long time. You may not have known this, but when Shisui died, he came to me. Itachi cried, so there's no way he would have hurt him.

"You also said that he said I was a test. If I was a test, then why did he get so embarrassed when we told your mom we were going to start dating. He blushed like no tomorrow when she brought up future weddings and kids."

The two laughed at that, remembering it as the only time Itachi lost his cool.

"There is a reason. One we don't know about. It might have something to do with the meetings the clan was having."

"Meetings?" asked Michiru.

"You mean the ones at the shrine?" asked Sasuke as he tried to think about it.

"Yes. I could never go since I always had missions. Itachi even asked me about them and seemed relieved when I told him that I never went to any of them. Something might have been going on with the clan that we didn't know about," said Haruka, causing the children to widen their eyes. 'Good. If I can make them think about it, this might just end up changing everything.'

"I know this might be hard for you both to believe, but I think that the Clan was planning something."

"Planning something?" asked Michiru. Sasuke gasped.

"Yes. I'm not sure what it is, but the only way we can truly find out is by finding Itachi. Do you understand."

"Yes," said the two with determination.

'If Haruka-nee thinks something was wrong, then she has to be right,' thought Sasuke as he looked at the older girl.

"Haruka-nee, what do we do now?" asked Michiru.

"Now. We clean up. My other teammate and her family, as well as several of the Ambu are cleaning up the compound as we speak. We will then go in and make in like it once was. It will be hard, but we can do this, together.

"After that, I will begin training you both. You will not let revenge guide you. Do you both understand? Revenge is a double-edged sword. You make a grave for your enemy and yourself."

"We understand," said the children.

"You heard Shikaku-sensei. We will stay with him for a few days then move back into the compound once it's all fixed up. I expect you two to get along with his son. I might even ask Hana to bring her brother Kiba along."

"He's so loud though," complained Sasuke with a pout, causing Haruka to chuckle.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah! And Shikamaru is always sleeping!" complained Michiru.

"Well, I was talking to Sensei during the trip and he told us that their compound has a forest with deer in it. Maybe the two of you can get Shikamaru to take you to see them," said Haruka with a found smile as the kids eyes widen in surprise.

"Really!" asked Sasuke in shock.

"Yes. Really."

"Can we feed them?" asked Michiru with a blush.

"I'm not sure. We can ask him later. Okay?" asked Haruka as she patted the children's heads. They both nodded. "Good. Now let me go get checked out by a doctor, and then we can leave. Sound good?"

"Can we come with you to see the doctor?" asked Sasuke with a small blush.

"Of course," said Haruka as she backed away from the bed, letting the children jump off of it. Sasuke took her left hand while Michiru took her right.

'It will be hard; be we can do this. I know it,' thought Haruka as they walked out of the room.