"She doesn't hate you," Sakura repeated.

Sasuke laid his head on the table while his wife perched next to him, attempting to comfort him after Sarada walked out on him. "She just feels a little left out," she continued. "She said she saw you leave with Boruto after their fight. I think she felt a little inadequate at that moment, but she doesn't hate you."

Sasuke wanted to beat his fist against the table but he was scared he'd wake Sarada up. That afternoon felt like a lifetime ago. Just hours before he had thought Boruto was a white zetsu and that was the only reason why he left her at the stadium without much of a congratulations. He thought he was protecting her and doing her a favor by taking out the white zetsu as soon as possible, but all he really did was isolate her.

How was he to know? And now from that single experience he effectively pushed his daughter away, learned more about the dangers threatening the village, and reunited with his older brother in his student's body. His dead student's body. Guilt racked him further as his heart ached for both his daughter and Naruto now. The secrets he had to keep just from this afternoon were almost unbearable.

And the worst part was that he couldn't even share any of it with Sakura.

"Fuck," was all he could manage.

"Are you able to watch her fight tomorrow?" Sakura asked. "That would make her day."

Sasuke sighed. He sent word to Kakashi, Yamato, and Itachi that he wanted to go digging around where Itachi had found the original documents. Even though white zetsu hadn't shown up during that day's test, he still felt like it all was time sensitive and he didn't want to waste any time…

"Yes," he suddenly blurted without thinking. Something inside him propelled him forward to make that promise. He'd make it work. Itachi's presence reignited the spark of the one thing he had always known: family came first. It was the whole reason he left the village for a whole decade in the first place- he had to protect his family. If he intended to make his way back to her, he'd be there. Yes, no matter what he'd watch her fight.

Itachi could feel his whole body buzzing the next morning. It was like he was suddenly a new person: today was the first day he had woken in over twenty years where he knew he'd get to spend a whole day with Sasuke. He had eagerly opened his window the night before to a note from him stating to meet Sasuke at the stadium in the morning. The plan was to go back to the Uchiha compound together to search for more information that someone may have hidden there.

The sun had barely risen when he hurried out the door toward the stadium; he didn't want to waste any time. Already the town was alive with people heading back to watch the exams again. The security around the stadium was tight as usual, and he had to once again dodge people to make his way up toward the top level where Sasuke would be waiting.

"Boruto!" A voice stopped him in his tracks and he looked over to see Inojin and Cho Cho waving him over. "Do you want to watch with us?" Inojin asked. He pointed to a seat next to him."Sarada's up first again!" Itachi felt an immediate pull to go toward his friends but remembered his own responsibility to his brother. He had to smile politely and shake his head. "I'm sorry!" he cried, running in the opposite direction. "I'll catch up with you guys later, okay? I promise!"

"Where could he possibly need to go right now?" he heard Cho Cho mutter.

"Always somewhere to be with him," Inojin replied.

Sarada fighting first? He skittered up the stairs. He wondered if Sasuke knew about this.

As he approached the top level, however, an Anbu member stepped in front of him, cutting him off from entering. He stuck a hand out in front of him. "Sorry, no one can be on this level. Kages and entourage only," he boomed.

"Oh, um, my dad…" Itachi started.

Suddenly Kakashi appeared behind the man, a hand lazily placed in his pocket, and boredly said, "Let him through. He's with us."

The masked man looked like he wanted to hesitate for a moment- surely the threat of white zetsu was on the front of his mind- but he didn't argue the sixth hokage's words and stepped aside to let him through.

Itachi smiled graciously at him and walked out of the shadows and into the open level toward the kages and their bodyguards stationed at the front. Kakashi and Sasuke stood to the side, eyeing him as he passed, but none of them made direct eye contact. "Hey! Boruto!" Naruto's eyes lit up as he saw his son and turned from talking to the Kazekage to wave. "Give me one second, I'll be right back," he said to Gaara, then bounded over to Itachi.

"I didn't get a chance to see you yesterday!" he cried. "You were asleep by the time I got home. You did so well!" He beamed down at his son and stuck his fist out for a fist bump. Even though Itachi lost against Sarada, he could still see pride reflected in Naruto's eyes. To his right, Itachi noted that Sasuke immediately turned away from them.

"Your girl has quite an arm on her," Naruto laughed, looking at Sasuke now. "Mm," Sasuke replied but didn't turn around. He watched his brother lean over the bar at the edge of the level and into the wind like he was preoccupied with the happenings below.

"Your mom and I were going to give you this later, but I'm glad you stopped by because I wanted to give this to you sooner if I saw you," Naruto suddenly announced.

"Huh?"

Naruto reached into his pocket and pulled out a small wrapped gift. "We're proud of you," he said earnestly and held it out to Itachi.

Itachi felt another pang of guilt in his chest as he reached out to take it. "Thanks…" he said softly and ripped the paper off the box. It was a video game. He turned it over in his hands, not knowing what to say next.

"It's the newest one!" Naruto continued blabbering, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "Your mom said it just came out yesterday! You've been so busy lately training and you still fought your hardest against Sarada after you just had surgery and-"

He stopped listening. Sasuke turned away again and walked quickly toward the door as though he couldn't stand listening for another second; from the corner of his eye Itachi watched Kakashi walk after him.

"-but yeah! I hope you like it!" Naruto finished.

Itachi looked back at Naruto and forced his lips into a smile. "I love it! Thank you! Really!"

"Naruto, it's time," Shikamaru cut in and pointed to the kage chairs stationed at the front. Around them, an announcer's voice echoed over the stadium.

"Well, that's my queue!" Naruto said. "Are you staying for Sarada? She's first."

"Y-Yeah. I actually might go watch with friends," Itachi lied, thinking about Inojin and Cho Cho down below. "Have fun…"

Naruto threw him one last big grin and wink before turning away to sit with the other kages. Itachi winced. He needed to get out of there quickly. He rushed past the Anbu and out the door again, trying not to suffocate from the guilt rising in his chest. Just as he hurried down the corridor, an arm swung out of a doorway and caught him by the neck of his shirt.

Sasuke hurried into the closest room he could find and shut the door, trying to breathe through the guilt quickly consuming him. He couldn't watch it. As good as he was at separating his emotions from work, this was something he couldn't quite untangle. He was lying. To Naruto. About his son. Who was probably dead. Even if his ultimate dream of having Itachi back had come true, this wasn't what he'd ever wish for.

"What the hell was that?" Kakashi rushed in and shut the door behind him. "You can't just leave like that-"

"I couldn't just stand there and watch Naruto say those things to Itachi," Sasuke hissed, turning on around to face his sensei. "Look how proud he was. I can't...I can't even imagine if that was Sarada-" He squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his temple. It was too painful to even think about. How would he react if he found out his daughter had died and Naruto knew someone else was inhabiting her body? It was unfathomable.

"Understandable," Kakashi said, "but you need to be more careful about rushing off like that. Someone will suspect something with too quick of movements." He suddenly looked at the door again like he felt someone's presence. "Oh, here he comes." He opened the door quietly and stuck his hand outside before pulling in a squirming Itachi.

"Shhh, it's only us," he whispered before letting go of him.

Itachi caught his footing and immediately turned to Sasuke. "I'm sorry about that," he blurted. If he felt awkward about it, he could only imagine how Sasuke felt.

"It's not your fault," Sasuke said coldly. "I just couldn't watch that."

"I don't blame you…"

"-and Sarada Uchiha!" Sarada's name suddenly boomed over the stadium. The fight had begun.

"Shit, no." Sasuke placed his thumb and forefinger at the bridge of his nose and groaned. "I told Sakura I'd watch her!" he cried.

"Are we holding off on searching for evidence until later then...?" Itachi asked.

Sasuke sighed and said, "Ugh, I don't even feel like I can be here now…" He felt like he owed it to Naruto, to Boruto to be vigilant in his work. After watching that interaction, he was itching for nothing more than to avenge Boruto for his dad. But Sarada…

"You go watch for a little while at least," Kakashi demanded gently.

Sasuke sighed again and popped his eyes open. They had darkened. "Let's go. We'll be quick. We have work to do."

The muffled screams of the fans hit them full force as they opened the door. The brothers threw a quick glance at each other before rushing down the corridor. They shot out at the first entrance to the stands, and quickly spotted an empty section. Below, Sarada had just landed a swift attack on a Hidden Stone genin and the crowd screamed out.

Itachi leaned forward over the barrier to get as close as possible. The sound of screams for Sarada mixed with the heart swelling pride of watching her and made him drunk. Next to him, in the corner of his eye, he saw Sasuke cross his arms and smile warmly as he took in the scene. It was the private moment of a proud father.

Itachi realized that this was the scene he pictured as he battled Sarada the day before. He knew he should have been in the stands with Sasuke cheering while she took her next step as a ninja. And here he was, next to Sasuke, hearing his own voice scream out into the crowd now for his niece.

Sasuke chuckled next to him. "What?" Itachi leaned over the bar until his feet were off the ground. He balanced on his stomach, hands gripping the bar, and grinned. "What's so funny?"

Sasuke shook his head. "Nothing. Just...seeing you like this."

"What? I can't cheer for my niece?" Just then, the crowd swelled as Sarada landed another hit. "LET'S GO SARADA!" he screamed. From where he was, he could see the red of her eyes, and a question emerged on the tip of his tongue.

Itachi lowered himself to the ground and looked thoughtfully at Sasuke. "So, how did she get it?"

"Excuse me?"

"You know. How did she awaken her sharingan?" he asked.

Sasuke chuckled darkly. "Oh," he said. "How did she get that. Well…" Itachi noted how he looked away from him as he spoke, even staring past Sarada now like he was stuck in a memory. "Sakura said she had been getting it for years. It would flicker on and off apparently. She had come with Naruto...to find me. To meet me. She was overwhelmed with it all and it must have finally just emerged fully..." He paused and took a deep breath. "...Which, unfortunate timing for me, was at the same time I was hunting down old experiments of Orochimaru's who also had the sharingan. And...and I tried to kill her because I didn't realize who she was. So. If she didn't already have the sharingan, that emotional trauma from that moment would have done it," he quipped.

Itachi stared up at his brother, a new appreciation mixing within him. Sasuke didn't need to tell him the whole story, but as he watched Sasuke's eyes begin to follow Sarada's figure on the field again, he knew he was confiding in him as his older brother. He watched Sasuke's own body almost deflate, and he realized that Sasuke had released a shameful secret he had been holding onto. Now, with Itachi there, he felt he could begin to let go.

"Sasuke…" he started. Suddenly the crowd erupted again. The two turned their attention to see Sarada standing over her opponent and the referee walking over. She was wobbling on her own feet, but Itachi could see the smug smirk she wore on her face as she realized she had carved her way into the finals.

He leaned over the bar again, lifting his feet off the ground, and allowed himself to let out a scream as loud as the others. "Winner!" the announcer cried out. "Sarada Uchiha!" Beside him, Sasuke tilted his head back and laughed loudly. For a second the world seemed right: they were just two brothers celebrating their family's win. Itachi swung back and launched himself at Sasuke. "SHE DID IT!" he screeched as he swung off Sasuke's shoulders. He didn't care how ridiculous he looked or how out of character it felt even for him. He felt high as the world seemed to align for the first time since before his parents died.

Itachi leaned over Sasuke's right shoulder and grinned at him. Sasuke looked back at him, his eyes dancing, but once he caught Itachi's eyes for more than a second, Itachi saw something flash in them. It was like he remembered all over again that the person hanging off him wasn't actually Boruto. Sasuke reached up to pull him off his shoulders and said quickly, "We should go."

"Right now?" Itachi asked, confused. He hobbled to gain his balance again.

"We have things to do."

"But Sarada…" He looked back at the field- they hadn't even said goodbye or congratulated her.

Sasuke shook his head once and tilted it toward the exit. "We have business."

He watched his little brother walk toward the exit quickly without so much as a look back to him and felt the moment between them melt away. He heard Kakashi's voice in his head: It's like he can't allow himself to be happy. He couldn't just enjoy the moment of his daughter winning; it was as though he was scared that if he did, he would lose it all.

Itachi looked back at the field one last time to see Sarada staring up at them as she walked off the field. They locked eyes. Itachi raised a hand to wave, but Sarada's mouth stayed a thin line, not even giving way to the faintest of a smile. What did she see? Did she see her dad celebrate her win? Or did she only see him walk away? After a moment she looked away and never looked back. She's still mad…

"Let's go," Sasuke barked from the exit. Itachi finally broke his stare away from Sarada's figure to follow him. He didn't tell him what he saw.

The two stared at the entrance to the Uchiha compound, just as unsure as Itachi was a few days before. The wind whispered softly, and also just as before, no sound emerged from beyond the gate. The brothers were alone.

"This is...surreal," Sasuke noted unsurely.

"To say the least."

It wasn't lost on Itachi how they were feet away from where their relationship broke. He could see the spot where he turned from his brother crying on the ground, effectively starting the chain of events that left dirty fingerprints on Sasuke's clear life, and his heart skipped a beat. He had to look over at Sasuke to steady and reminded himself that he was safe, he was here. They were both here. The excitement he felt just minutes before had melted away to the true reality of their clan and reminded him why they were the only Uchihas rooting Sarada on.

"Ready?" Sasuke asked. His wavering voice mirrored how Itachi felt and he wondered if he was remembering the same thing.

"Ready."

They two stepped past the gate and began the slow walk to their home.

"So...do you think we'll find anything?" Sasuke asked to break the thickening silence. Their footsteps echoed off the pavement.

"I hope."

Ahead, their home grew larger as they drew closer. Beside him, he heard Sasuke draw in a sharp breath. He definitely was feeling exactly as he was.

"We're okay. It's okay. You're okay," he uttered quickly. His brother may have been bigger than him now, but their relationship remained the same, at least in his eyes: he was the protector.

"I-I'm sorry," Sasuke apologized softly as they slowed to a stop in front of their home. Itachi looked over to see his eyes wide as saucers, just as they were when he learned the truth of who he was. He was clearly having a panic attack being there. Out of all the places in the world, all the things Sasuke had seen, all his pain led him back here. You can't just eliminate trauma that easily, Itachi.

Itachi instinctively reached out to grab his hand. "You're fine. It's okay. I'm here."

"I've never been- I never thought I'd-" Sasuke sputtered.

"You don't have to go in if you don't want to…" he said softly. "I can do this myself."

"No." Sasuke gripped Itachi's hand as he spoke. "If I don't...Sarada. Boruto. I have to do this for Boruto."

Itachi just nodded, understanding completely. "Then," he said, gently squeezing Sasuke's hand, "let's go."

Still holding hands, they took slow steps toward the door. He walked in front of Sasuke and slid it back. How many times had they walked through that door together? The musty smell knocked them in the face as they ascended into the house. How many times had Sasuke bounded up to him, waiting for him at the door, asking him to play? It wasn't even this hard when he was there days before, but there was something about being there now, with a grown Sasuke- a cold Sasuke, a hurt Sasuke- that drove a knife deeper into his heart.

"Wow," Sasuke finally broke the silence. Itachi realized they were both standing still, just staring into the blackhole of the house.

"Yeah."

Sasuke released his hand and stepped deeper into the home. He heard him take another shaky breath.

"Are you okay?" he asked cautiously, coming up behind him. He reached out to touch his shoulder but Sasuke shook him off. When he turned, Itachi could see tears swimming in his eyes. "No, it's weird!" Sasuke cried. He punched the wall with his fist then turned to hurriedly wipe his eyes. "I'm sorry. It's you and I can see in your eyes that it's you but it's Boruto's body and-" He leaned against the wall, trying to catch his breath that was receding rapidly, and placed his hand over his eyes. "This is all just so fucked. Being here. You being here. I mean my god, what's going to happen next, Mom walk out of the room-"

He moved his arm back to slam the wall with his fist again but this time he punched through the wall. Instantly debris began to fly at them and dust swirled around their heads. They coughed.

"I didn't even hit it at that hard-" Sasuke choked.

Itachi squinted through the settling dust at the large hole that had cracked into the wall. "Nice arm, Sasuke! Look." He coughed into his arm and pointed at the hole with his other hand. In the middle of the settling dust, nestled into the wall, were papers and scrolls.

"What the hell…" Sasuke whispered as Itachi reached above them and snatched them up.

"This wasn't hollow before," Itachi announced excitedly as he rustled through the papers. " Somebody must have put them he- Oh my god."

"What?"

Itachi stared down at the papers in his hand. Though they were old and tattered, the fresh scent of paint let him know that somebody intentionally tried to hide them here.

"It's some kind of research...some kind of jutsu…" he explained slowly.

Sasuke plucked one from his hand and read it over. "This is Orochimaru's handwriting."

"Orochimaru?"

"And Kabuto's…" He looked up at Itachi and flicked the paper. "This is the reanimation jutsu."

"Reanimation jutsu?" Itachi asked, confused. "Why would it be here?"

Sasuke's eyes read quickly over the paper and he took another scroll from Itachi's hand. It wasn't even sealed. "This one is new. It's not even in their handwriting but... " He paused, reading it further. "Look. Right here. It's an addition to it."

"To what?"

"To the reanimation jutsu," Sasuke sighed exasperatedly.

Itachi's eyes narrowed. But why would… "Is someone trying to further perfect the reanimation jutsu…?" It had worked before clearly. What could someone want now with it? What was someone planning?

Sasuke stared at the papers in his hand for a moment before shoving it in his pocket. "We need to tell Naruto," announced.

"Naruto? Wait, whoa, Sasuke." Itachi jumped in front of his brother. "We promised we wouldn't say anything to him."

"This is concrete proof something is happening, Itachi." He held up the paper and hit it with his hand and cried out, "We have to let him know someone is trying to use Orochimaru's research."

Itachi thought about the documents he found in his parents' room the week before. Is that what the Akatsuki was back for? But why would they just use Orochimaru's research?

"What are you going to tell Naruto?" he demanded.

"I'll tell him that I found this outside the village and that I can do the digging on my own," he said calmly. "I will tell him that this is all we know. But now your job is to get as much information from whatever the hell organization you're in right now and see if you can connect this to them."

Itachi swallowed. The Akatsuki. Right. He had a job to do.