Kakashi fastened the tiny mic into the pocket inside Itachi's shirt. He stared hard at it for a second before attaching more fabric over top until finally he sat back, satisfied with his work. "There. Can you hear me?"

"Check," Yamato replied and tapped the ear piece nestled into his ear.

"Okay then, you're all set, and we'll be with you the whole way."

Itachi had an upcoming meeting that afternoon in the Anbu office, and he instantly noted that it was hidden in Root's previous location. Whoever was behind this did not mind hiding in plain sight. He felt better having Kakashi and Yamato in his ear to help gather intel, but was overall hoping that if the mastermind was this confident about their abilities to stay hidden next to the legitimate Anbu, that they would also be confident in revealing their true face. If he could easily decipher who was behind this, he could dismantle it within the day, before Sasuke had a chance to return with his own intel; he needed to be the one to do this.

"We'll see you when you get back," Kakashi promised, and nudged Itachi out of the doorway.

Team 7 had lied to Konohamaru that they just wanted time to train by themselves, bonding so to speak, to get them into the headspace before the Chunin exams. They still weren't supposed to tell anyone about their new activity, and though Itachi knew that the confidentiality surrounding it was a red flag, he also had to concede that secrets in the shinobi world were good; the juicier the secret, the stronger the mission, and therefore a stronger shinobi. They wanted a secret like this to hold onto.

Itachi emerged into the shadows of Danzo's former headquarters to find his teammates kneeling in front of a looming shadow. It curtained them off from the rest of the room and they had no way to view what lay ahead of them.

"What are you-" he began.

"Ah, Boruto Uzumaki," a booming voice sounded from the shadow, "welcome. We have been expecting you."

Fuck. They used the shadow to conceal their face. They were smart, whoever they were.

Itachi kneeled next to his teammates and lowered his head. What now? He tried to catch Sarada's eye but she stared intensely at the ground as though her life depended on listening to this person.

"We were just discussing your first mission for us, to test your abilities, to see your strength," the deep voice continued. "Your first full mission will be during the Chunin exams, as stated previously, and you will receive those specifics before each test. However, to prepare for that, your first test is to choose a team of comrades to tail. You are to collect their strengths and weaknesses as a team to be able to use for the Chunin exams, and you will also relay your information to me here. I will judge your accuracy and ability to do intel.

"We expect so much of you three. Being in an organization like this is not one to be taken lightly, and I hope you know that you will have to make difficult choices for your village and for the people you love. However, we know you are capable of making the choices that need to be done. We know you are Orochimaru's son, Mitsuki, and Boruto, the Hokage's son. And you, Sarada, we have high hopes for in particular as an Uchiha. You especially are made for a mission like this, to make difficult decisions- being a part of a mission like this, in this organization, afterall, is in your blood."

"Wait what?" Sarada began to raise her head in confusion, but Itachi felt his hand move on its own to push her head back down.

"What's wrong with you?" she hissed out of the side of her mouth.

But Itachi was ready to stand up and fight the person hidden in the shadows. Fuck you, he wanted to spew before driving a sword through the person's heart. He could feel his foot begin to shake in rage. How dare this person bring Itachi up- the real him- to try to justify why Sarada belonged in the Akatsuki. He didn't even belong in the Akatsuki; it was a choice he made to protect his village and protect his family, not to do harm. If he didn't belong there, she definitely didn't belong. He didn't want to be used again. He didn't want history to repeat itself. And he definitely didn't want someone to manipulate his niece using his memory- one she didn't even know of- to get her to do their bidding under the guise of doing it for the village, just because she believes it's in her blood.

Now that he knew the real point of the Akatsuki was to collect the tailed beasts to destroy the world, not ever to bring peace, he knew this was a game of total manipulation and he couldn't allow the name of Itachi Uchiha to be used to manipulate Sarada.

...But all he could do was keep his head down in respect and let the person continue expelling their venomous lies.

"We will be in contact before the exams to receive your intel," the voice continued.

"Why don't you show your face to us?" Itachi suddenly asked.

"Boruto," Sarada gasped. Even Mitsuki turned his head to throw him a look of confusion.

The voice, however, was not offended. "Too dangerous," he chuckled once. "I appreciate your questions. It shows you are not afraid to ask the hard questions, do what needs to be done. You do not trust easily, and we want that." Right, to eventually break our trust with each other. This person was clearly a master manipulator.

"You three are now dismissed." The voice in the shadow completed the conversation, and just like it was sucked from a vacuum, the shadow immediately disappeared, leaving the three genin alone in total silence.

"That was so rude." Sarada threw her arms in the air in frustration as they exited. "Do you know what's appropriate and what's not?"

"Doesn't it sound even a little suspicious? Not showing their faces?" Itachi asked.

"No, not at all," she scoffed. "They told us how secretive this is; we can't even tell our parents right now. It's so secretive because it's that important- we are important. Plus it's for the village, it's not like we can't trust this person."

"But asking us to find weaknesses of other teams?" Itachi could hear his voice edging upward and hoped that these questions were enough to worm doubt into Sarada's head.

But she continued to shake her head. "It's just a test, Boruto, to see our skills. That's what we do for the Chunin exams anyway- how do we win if we don't know others' strengths or weaknesses? Geez, what has gotten into you?"

Itachi squeezed his fists. He was on the edge of letting all the truth spill over: tell them about the Akatsuki? The name? The past? To help them truly make an informed decision? But he knew deep down that that would just leave even more questions and no solutions. The best decisions took time. He'd just have to bide his time a little longer and figure out how to untie this knot they had around his teammates while also keeping them safe. He needed to get back to Kakashi and Yamato as soon as he could.

By the time he wound his way back to Kakashi's a few hours later, he was shaking again. Normally he was so much more contained in situations like these, but his body reacted to the pent up rage that had been building since the meeting.

He tore his jacket open and threw the bug attached to his shirt on the floor, ripping the wires from his skin; he wanted it off, wanted to shed all the pain and frustration that bubbled under the surface.

"Whoa, whoa!" Kakashi picked up the items Itachi had strewn across the floor.

"Did you hear what was said?!" he cried, turning on Kakashi. He couldn't believe he was so breathless and so angry.

"Yes, we got it all down," he admitted.

"They are manipulating her, Kakashi! I can't let them win! Get another generation! They already manipulated Sasuke, I can't watch this again!"

"Just try to calm down right now. Yamato is analyzing the audio."

Yamato walked out of the next room. "If it is Danzo, I can't tell," he announced. "But just because I don't recognize it doesn't mean anything. They could easily be using a jutsu, we just have to be patient and try again."

"UGH!"

"This is the Boruto I know. You were so much more patient," Kakashi snickered as an attempt to break the tension.

"Patience last time did what? I swore never again." Itachi sat down on the couch and placed his head in his hands. "But you're right. I know we just have to wait."

"We'll tail you while you tail your teammates," Kakashi offered. "Maybe we'll find something that way. Don't allow yourself to get too worked up and jump the gun; that's Boruto's own weakness. Hone your own strength."

Itachi took a deep breath. "So what are your thoughts after listening to that?"

"If it's the Akatsuki I think they are trying to use the Chunin exams to gain intel on our shinobi as a way to inform their own plan of action," Kakashi said. "I think they are using you three to do their dirty work so they can sit in the shadows longer undetected."

"Definitely not official Leaf business," Yamato concurred.

"So do we still even do the Chunin exams if that's what they are here for?" Itachi asked.

"Obviously. That would raise even more questions."

"Sasuke is also gone right now." Itachi just remembered what Sarada told him the day before. "I think they are onto something."

"Well that's good," Kakashi said. "I don't think he realizes it's this though."

"Don't worry about that for right now. Right now we have to get you ready for your own mission in trailing your comrades. Did you guys pick a team?"

He nodded solemnly. "Yeah. Cho Cho and Inojin." His mind presented him with only a fuzzy outline of them, but he knew they were supposed to be two of his close friends. They were going to trail Iwabe, Denki, and Metal, but they figured two would be easier than three.

"We'll be right behind you. Don't worry." Kakashi's eyes scrunched in a smile. "The Boruto and Itachi I know would not allow this to deter him. No matter what we'll see this through."

Later that evening, Yamato and Kakashi sat beneath a thicket of trees right outside the village to talk and compile what they had found from watching Boruto, Mitsuki, and Sarada.

"I can see why he's so worked up about her being manipulated. She was definitely gung-ho about it all. No holds."

"Who is being manipulated?" A voice sounded behind them and they looked up to see a cross-armed Sasuke leaning against a tree.

Kakashi's eyes widened. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm on a mission. This is where Boruto got hurt the other night and I'm searching this area for any clues that documents once existed here. What are you doing here?" His eyes moved from Kakashi to Yamato. "Aren't you two...retired?"

Kakashi and Yamato exchanged glances. "Uh...yeah," Kakashi said. "We're just...hanging out."

"In the forest?"

"Yeah...you know. For privacy."

Sasuke pursed his lips together and nodded like the situation was obvious. "No judgment. I'm happy for you."

"Happy for me?"

"Yeah. You've been alone for so long and you finally-"

"No, no!" Kakashi cried. "That's not what this is!"

"Hey, I said no judgment." Sasuke backed up, holding his hands in the air as a surrender. "I'll leave you to it."

Sasuke turned and disappeared into the night, leaving the two men frazzled and yelling after him. He knew that Kakashi wasn't gay or on a date, but he did recognize the significance of two retired shinobi- one Hokage, one Anbu- conferring in private with one another. He knew they were researching something, and it must have been important. He knew he should have asked them, to see if it had any significance to his own mission, but he had a time constraint and trusted that if it was anything good, they'd report it to Naruto and Naruto to him.

If the rumor Naruto was told was true and the Akatsuki was truly returning, he needed to be the one to stop it, for the world and most importantly, even if he wouldn't admit it aloud, for his late brother's sake.

SARADA'S DIARY

Obviously they knew right away what we were doing because Boruto can't keep his mouth shut. He can never be discreet. He should have known it would be suspicious to ask "Can we train with you?" You really think Cho Cho and Inojin would want to train with us?

And then later, after it was all over, I don't know why he would even say such a thing: Do you think we'll be forced to hurt them during the Chunin exams?No one is forcing us to do anything! I don't know what this head injury did to him but he is acting so weird. He's acting like we're trailing our friends to learn how to kill them. This is just a test to see how well we can do intel!

One day I hope I can look back at this and realize I overreacted to the situation, but I don't think I will. Here's the scene, Future Sarada, you tell me ten years from now what you think:

Shikadai, Inojin, and Cho Cho had just left dinner. (Even though Shikadai is a chunin, he's still helping them train, which is nice. If I become a chunin and they don't, I'll still help them train. Hold me to it, Future Sarada, if I don't kill Boruto first.) We peered around the corner at them just to gauge where they were going and to decide our next move since gaining intel is more than just their fighting skills, it's also seeing how they move and act as a group.

I think everyone is a little high stress right now going into the exams- if it's not your team you don't want to see them. Everyone is partially an enemy at this point (and Boruto thinks they are being made into our real enemies). Because of this, they instantly sensed our presence.

"Sarada, are you trailing us?" Cho Cho asked suspiciously.

I turned around and the boys were gone. They had split before I could even make a move! So I stood there like an idiot on my own.

"No!" I said stupidly.

Then Boruto bolted out of fucking nowhere, just as I was about to start asking questions and really get this going, and says "Hey guys! We were just about to train! Do you want to train together?!"

This is the time we start doubling down on our own. He knows this. You don't just train with someone else when you're supposed to be sharpening your skills at the last minute! Could he be any more obvious?!

"Uh, not really," Inojin said. "We kind of have our own stuff to work on."

It probably would be most helpful if we did train together because then we could help each other know what we're up against, but that would also give away what you've been working on. Comrades or not, you're still competing against them.

And then they just walked away. Cool. So now all we know is that Cho Cho has partial expansion and Inojin is getting there with his mind transfer. What else can we give?!

I went off on Boruto. Maybe I was a little harsh because we were in public, but wasn't it deserved.

"Are you trying to sabotage me?!" I screamed. "Why didn't you think it through to be more discreet?!"

"Do you think we'll be forced to hurt them during the Chunin exams if we gather intel?" he asked.

"What is wrong with you?" I asked. "You said you wanted to join this but you're refusing to do what they're asking! You don't think of anyone else but yourself! If you don't want to do this then just leave. I told you from the beginning that I didn't want you to get in my way. If your little antics get in the way of me becoming Hokage then get away from me."

I screamed at him. I told him to get out of my face right before the Chunin exams. If we keep fighting like this then we won't work well together during the exams. Am I the one who is hurting our chances?

But ultimately I refuse to let him hurt our team like this or my chances to prove myself. No matter what he always has Lord Seventh. He can do whatever he wants and he'll always be successful. I am clawing up the wall to get there and if no one else cares, I have to do whatever it takes to prove my capabilities.

By the way, Dad still isn't back.

Later that night, Itachi lay in his bed, the shadow of Sarada burning in his mind. You can hate me like Sasuke did, but I'm doing this to protect you.