WELCOME TO A TURNING POINT IN THE STORY! The kids are getting some answers now! And I am sorry for such a late post. I try to update at least once a week if not more, but I am in the process of moving across the country next week so I have been a bit preoccupied with wrapping up my job and packing. I will try to post as soon as I get internet, but the next chapter may be in about 2 weeks. I have a lot of outlines though ready to go so hopefully it will be quick to write and will be posted before then if we get internet quickly!

Thanks so much for sticking with me! I know I've said it before but I didn't think I'd get this far, and I have loved reading people's comments and ideas. It's really helped me throughout this whole period!

The sky was still dark as Itachi and Sasuke retreated from the village the morning Sarada became a chunin. "We'll be back by nightfall," Sasuke had promised the evening before. "We'll get what we can from Orochimaru and come right back to keep looking for more evidence. Kakashi agreed to keep watch over Sarada in case we need to leave again."

They now walked silently side-by-side, just a boy and his sensei, down the main path and out of the village. Sasuke nodded once to the jonin guarding the gates while Itachi flashed a warm smile, and they flitted out without even a look back. As soon as the gates were just a small dot in the distance, Itachi finally opened his mouth to speak.

"So, I guess I should tell you something else before we get to Orochimaru's."

"Hm?" Sasuke asked sharply. "Are you keeping more things from me?"

"Well no...not exactly." He took a deep breath. "Orochimaru also knows I am me."

Sasuke glanced over at him. "Oh. Why does he know?"

"That's how Kakashi and Yamato know in the first place," he explained. "I went to find Orochimaru because he was linked to Mitsuki when I found the first documents, and that's how all of this got started."

Sasuke stopped now and turned to look fully at Itachi before speaking. "So Orochimaru was linked to this before we found the jutsu? Why the hell didn't you tell me that?"

"Sasuke, I don't really think this is anything to get worked up about-"

"How did it not occur to you to tell that little detail when you know of his past?" His voice rose with every word. "And especially after we found this jutsu?"

"I am not a child," Itachi responded calmly. "There is no reason to get snippy like this with me. We're on the same team, remember?" Sasuke clamped his mouth shut in response and turned to keep walking; after a moment Itachi followed and continued speaking. "Do I trust him completely? Absolutely not. But my understanding is that he really has changed and I think the existence of Mitsuki is proof of that. We're here for answers and we are doing the best we can right now."

They continued walking and after a few paces Sasuke replied, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have spoken to you that way. I am agitated a little more than usual right now; I don't like having to lie to Naruto like this and I want enough proof now to make this all stop."

"What exactly would 'make it all stop' look like to you?" Itachi asked quietly.

"Obviously figuring out who is behind this and stop it before we are attacked."

"I only ask," Itachi continued, taking another big breath, "because even if we figure out why this is happening and who is behind this, it still doesn't mean Boruto is going to come back." Sasuke stayed quiet as Itachi spoke the words that had been brewing beneath the surface for a while. "Because Sasuke...I don't know why I'm here or how I got here, but I don't know if I can keep this up forever."

He watched Sasuke continue walking but prickle against his confession. "I have the sharingan, I don't know how I can hide that forever. And Sarada…" He thought about her reaction as they fought against each other in the third exam. "I think she might have feelings for Boruto and I can not go there obviously. Listen, I don't want to tell Naruto, and I don't want him to find out, and I want us to solve this together...but we might need to start thinking about the 'after'. Because I don't think things are going to ever go back to normal."

Sasuke knew that- he thought about it even talking to Naruto yesterday. But hearing Itachi speak it aloud just made it all the more real. "We can figure that out later," he responded gruffly. "Let's just do one thing at a time."

Itachi almost had to jog to stay in stride with his little brother who had sped his walking and quickly thought of how to change the subject. "Well, while we're on our way, let's talk about something happy." He peered up at his little brother and his clenched jaw and smiled wide to lighten the mood. "How about you tell me more about you?"

Sasuke glanced sideways at him. "I thought you said you wanted to talk about something happy."

"Oh, come on, Sasuke, don't give me that."

Sasuke sighed. "All right, what do you want to know?"

"Everything," Itachi demanded eagerly. "Sakura, Sarada. What's it like being a dad? What's it like having the rinnegan? What have the last twenty years been like for you?"

"I…" Sasuke took a deep breath and tried to steady himself against the onslaught of memories and emotions he had packed away to protect himself on missions. "I always pictured you here, honestly. The day Sarada was born, the day I left the village again but this time to protect it- it was like a security blanket, thinking about you watching over me from wherever you were, or how you'd react to seeing Sarada grow up. It doesn't matter how many years have gone by, that void you left is just as big as ever." Itachi frowned, hearing the pain laced through his brother's voice.

"But," Sasuke continued, "Sarada really did change that or help it, even just a little bit. I didn't think it was possible to love something again or to love something that much. She made me realize all my wrongs and showed me that maybe I did one thing right in my life to deserve something good. I realized that after everything I did- to the village, to you-" He winced. "-that if I was given this extra chance I didn't even deserve, I needed to do everything I could to make sure I didn't lose it all again. So I promised I'd do anything to protect her and the village. But honestly? Sakura was the real one who saved me. She never gave up on me after every single thing and still thought I was worthy enough to stick by. And again, somehow after everything, she thought I was worthy enough to love. She gave me that redemption and I can't let her down. I mean, what did I ever do to prove to her that I deserved love and a family? Nothing. But she still gave me Sarada anyway." He turned to Itachi again and Itachi looked him in the eye, soaking in the fervent glare. "That's why I have to do this: I can't mess up again, I can't let this slip away, I can't be the cause of her pain again. So this is my thank you to her and Naruto for never leaving."

Itachi could see the pain reflected in his brother's face but the immense love backing it as well. "And this is my repayment to you," he said quietly.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked.

"I said I would always protect you-"

"You did," Sasuke cut him off.

"I did? But you got lost; there were so many things I could have done differently. Yet Naruto found you. Sakura found you."

"No one gave you any other choice: you did what you had to do for the village and I do it now. I can do this all because you set this up. I know you did your best. You don't have to repay anything: All is forgiven."

All is forgiven. Each word was cool on his skin, raw from years of hot tears on cheeks and burns on his soul. He thought about all he tried to accomplish, all he hoped for Sasuke, and though he knew Sasuke struggled to focus on his happiness, he also felt good to know his little brother was now using his memory to bring happiness to others. "It's an honor to protect the village with you. To just have all of this-" Itachi gestured at the surrounding trees encasing the Land of Fire. "-with you. I'm sorry I couldn't be there to train you how I wanted or to watch you grow up, but I'm proud of who you've become, Sasuke."

Sasuke's jaw tightened again but it quickly melted away into a smirk. "Don't go getting all soft on me now," he teased.

"Me?" Itachi cried. "What about the whole cheesy soliloquy you just oozed?!"

"You were the one who asked." Sasuke threw another smirk at his brother before coolly turning away again. "Now look, we're almost there. Just follow my lead, okay? I know how to deal with him."

Up ahead they could see the hideout and Sasuke wasted no time in driving up his intensity before bursting his way inside. Itachi jogged again at his heels as they made their way down the stone steps and down the main dark hallway and noted how his brother seemed so at home, his confidence dripping into every muscle that hurried to find Orochimaru. It was a far cry from the emotional man he was just moments before and again Itachi had to admit how in awe he was of his little brother taking control.

As they rounded the first corner, a familiar face emerged from a room. Suigetsu's eyes widened and he took a step back as he looked from Sasuke to Itachi, clearly surprised to see them both. His teeth flashed in a dark grin. "Oh, I wasn't expecting to see you back so soon," he quipped to Itachi, then turned his head back up to Sasuke before adding, "-you either."

"Just tell us where Orochimaru is," Sasuke demanded.

"What is going on out here?" Orochimaru emerged from a room further down the hall and his eyebrows too raised as he took in the sight of the two brothers. "Wow, what a surprise. What could have brought you all this way to see me?"

"I have some questions for you."

"Hm, what can I help you with? And you brought Boruto Uzumaki with you as well I see…?" His eyes danced over Itachi.

"I already know," Sasuke scoffed, "so you can save it."

"Oh shit, was it just as bad as I thought it was going to be?" Suigetsu asked and elbowed Itachi playfully.

"That's not why we're here so I'd like to stick to the subject," Sasuke growled, turning his biting glare on Suigetsu and causing him to jump back from Itachi.

"Well, of course, I'll help any pupil of mine however I can. Come." Orochumaru gestured toward the room he had just come from. "Let's sit down. Would either of you like some tea?"

They followed Orochimaru into the next room and sat down. "We have some questions on this." Sasuke immediately pulled out the jutsu the two had found in the Uchiha compound and handed it to Orochimaru. He glanced over them and once he came to the new addition to the jutsu his eyes fluttered. "Oh...well, this is certainly new."

"Who had access to this jutsu?" Sasuke demanded. "Because we found this where I found the Akatsuki documents so we assume they are potentially connected. If we can figure this out we may be able to find out who is behind that as well," Itachi added more calmly than his brother.

"Besides Kabuto I genuinely have no idea," Orochimaru admitted. "Has anything more come out of the Akatsuki after I saw you last?"

"They haven't used the word 'Akatsuki' but they are falling under the pretense of being part of the Anbu," Itachi hurriedly explained. "They haven't shown their faces though. They asked Mitsuki, Sarada, and I to gain some intel on friends and watched us throughout the first chunin exam, but I haven't heard from them since. However… we knew they were supposed to watch us in the second exam and we were attacked by white zetsu, so we think they could be linked to that."

"White zetsu?" Orochimaru's eyes narrowed. "That's linked to the Otsutsuki, correct?"

"Yes," Sasuke answered this time.

"So you think whoever is behind the white zetsus is also behind the Akatsuki? Hm… Did they ask you to do anything in particular that could lead you to a motive?"

"Nothing that could lead to a real motive, but they attacked another group during the exams to attack us, but the other group made it out alive."

"Kakashi believes that they are using those three for some reason, potentially to get to Naruto and me," Sasuke said.

Orochimaru clicked his tongue. "The Otsutsuki may make sense in that case, but I'm still not quite seeing how the Akatsuki fits into this."

"That's why we need to know anybody who may have been around this. How did someone get their hands on this?"

Orochimaru continued to read through the scrolls, his mouth set in a frown. "I'm sorry I can't be of more help. The only other person who may have had any bit of my research was Danzo and that's the only link I could think of to the Anbu."

"And Danzo is definitely not alive," Itachi noted. "I would have figured that out."

"So Mitsuki and your daughter believe they are just working for the Hokage's Anbu?"

"Yes."

"Hm. Interesting. But they haven't made any moves or other requests of you, Itachi?" Itachi shook his head and Orochimaru continued. "And why white zetsu… I just don't see what the Otsutsuki, if that is who is behind white zetsu, would want of the Akatsuki… I don't know if they really are connected."

"I'm serious, Orochimaru, if you're lying to me and you're putting thousands of people in danger, I have no problem killing-"

"Oh trust me, Sasuke, I know, and I am telling the truth. I don't want Mitsuki in any of this either, and I would hate to see the world go down the same path again. I have been through too many wars as is."

"Just let us know if you think of anything." Sasuke began to stand, frustration clearly outlining his face.

"Well you don't have to rush out so soon," Orochimaru replied. "You only just got here. Tell me- how did Naruto react to finding out about his son? You seem to have accepted it quite easily." He looked between the two, but when he saw both Sasuke and Itachi look away from him, a slow smile broke out on his face. "Oh...so you're telling me he doesn't know any of this?"

"You need to keep our visit here today quiet. He doesn't know the Akatsuki is certain, he only knows about white zetsu and that we found this jutsu. He has absolutely no idea that we are here."

"Keeping things from the Hokage?" Orochimaru tsk-ed. "Now that doesn't sound like you." Before Sasuke had an opportunity to turn on him, he held a hand up and added, "But your secret is safe with me. I will contact you if I think of anything."

"Thank you," Itachi responded politely and followed Sasuke toward the door. He had to almost run to keep up with Sasuke again as he glided back down the hallway toward the exit. Once they emerged outside again Itachi asked, "So do you believe him?"

"Yes, but I think there's just something he doesn't remember. We need to keep looking- we're going back home." The sharp edge to his voice told Itachi he didn't just mean back to the village but back to the Uchiha compound; no matter the pain going home might bring him, his little brother was ready to fight.

Mitsuki noted almost instantly how hot it was under his Anbu mask. He thought about Sarada and her glasses, wondering if they fogged up to the point that she considered taking them off, but he didn't know she was worried it would have put her at an even greater disadvantage and therefore kept them on and just prayed they wouldn't run into trouble.

The two traveled silently the entire way to Orochimaru's hideout the next morning with him leading the way. They arrived by the time the sun was peeking through the trees, and Mitsuki was pleased that they didn't find any resistance or welcome as they infiltrated through the only entrance.

"Hello?" he called out lightly as they made their way inside. Surely his parent didn't sleep.

Orochimaru floated out from the shadows and clasped his hands together as he regarded his son and teammate. "Oh my, who do we have here? Two teams visiting in twenty-four hours? I must be popular. Or have done something wrong," he tacked on snidely at the end.

"I hope we're not interrupting anything," Mitsuki replied earnestly.

"Oh you know you're always welcome home! What can I help you with?"

"We're here on official business."

"Which is…?" Orochimaru coaxed.

Mitsuki took a big breath. "We need all information and documentation you have on the reanimation jutsu."

Orochimaru's mouth pulled up at the sides into a sinister smile but Mitsuki couldn't tell what he was thinking. "Oh, and both teams come with the same questions as well, I see."

"What do you mean?" Mitsuki asked. "Someone else came for information on this jutsu too?"

"Your father and other teammate were just here yesterday," he said, nodding to Sarada.

"My dad?" she questioned."And Boruto? Why were they here?"

"Well, let's talk about why you two kids are here for it first. I can't just give a jutsu like this up without good reason, of course."

"Well of course," Mitsuki repeated. "Um, may we sit down?" He and Sarada exchanged nervous glances at one another as they followed Orochimaru into the next room. He had a lot to think about: Why had Sasuke and Boruto been there already? And what did they know that they didn't?

"So," Orochimaru announced as he sat down, "why exactly do you need this? Because Sasuke says someone is after this jutsu in particular, and it looks like it has already fallen into the wrong hands so I want to make sure that the wrong people do not get to it." He looked Mitsuki squarely in the eyes as though challenging him. "I haven't done research on this in a long time and I don't want anyone else who doesn't need it to get a hold of this if it's in danger."

"That is understandable," Mitsuki replied calmly. Orochimaru then turned his attention to Sarada who was sitting rigid at the end of her chair and clearly didn't know how to contribute to the conversation between parent and child. "You can relax, my child, you are so much like your father. Just sit back and enjoy yourself while you are here; I don't think Sasuke relaxed the entire three years he was with me."

Sarada turned her head, once again confused. "My dad was with you for three years? When?"

Another sharp grin emerged on Orochimaru's face as he vaguely replied, "There is so much you don't know." Mitsuki could tell something was brewing behind his parent's eyes, a scheme perhaps, but he couldn't read them enough to not fall into it.

"So why would someone want this jutsu?" He turned the conversation sharply again like he was leading them to something. "Tell me exactly why you need it."

"We also need information on the jutsu you were working on before the last war," Sarada added smally.

"Ah, so you are here for more than just the reanimation. Surely the Hokage didn't want that; he could have asked me for that himself." His eyes traveled back to Mitsuki'sand he sat back in his chair with his arms folded.

"We are here for good reason, I can assure you of that," Mitsuki promised.

"But you understand my hesitance, right? Knowing someone is already after this…?"

"Of course." Mitsuki chuckled lightly. "But you shouldn't worry- we are working for a group that you were in."

Orochimaru was silent for a moment, soaking in the innocence and naivety of the children in front of him, before leaning forward again with a sparkle of interest glowing in his eyes. "Hm? A group I was in…?" he asked.

Mitsuki didn't feel a reason to hesitate, to question what had been told to him, so he immediately let himself blurt out the words: "Yeah. The Anbu."

Orochimaru's eyebrows raised and he began to laugh lightly. "I was never in the Anbu."

Mitsuki and Sarada instantly exchanged another glance as his words set in. Did he hear wrong yesterday? "That...that's what we were told…" Mitsuki reasoned.

"Not the Anbu of the likes you see today, anyway. It wouldn't compare at all to what you two would be in with Lord Seventh." Orochimaru's eyes gleamed over the children again as he caught their faces falter for a second, and he knew he had them. His voice then lightened significantly as he added, "Oh, was the Hokage not the one who told you this?"

The two stayed silent and looked away as embarrassment began to creep along their bodies. "Who exactly do you think you're working for?" he pushed them. "Surely you can't trust someone just because they said I was in it. Oh now, what's with your faces… Do you think someone lied to you?"

Mitsuki's eyes flashed up as his mind fought to connect the pieces of what he heard yesterday and what he was hearing now. "What do you know?"

Orochimaru just laughed brightly in response and purred, "You just need to question your surroundings more, child. Like I said before: there is still a lot you don't know." His voice darkened at the end. "Like how your father worked for me for three years- you two have a lot to learn."

Sarada suddenly piped up. "But you say you weren't in the Anbu but they also brought up my uncle. Do you know anything about him?" she asked. "Do you know if my uncle was in it?"

"Oh, Itachi Uchiha." Orochimaru's eyes once again sparkled as he relegated his memories. "What a long forgotten name. I can say he was in the Anbu but that wasn't where I knew him from. He was in another group with me…"

"What group?" Sarada demanded.

"The Akatsuki," he hissed. "We didn't work for a village at all, to be honest. It was made up of rogue ninjas who hired ourselves to whatever village would pay. We didn't answer to any leader- as a matter of fact, we worked very separately from the kages. We used people." He stared at them again knowingly. "I am not sure who told you these things, but know that Itachi Uchiha and I knew each other through that group."

Mitsuki held onto Orochimaru's stare but it wouldn't give anything else away; why did he always have to be so vague. But vague or not he was starting to get the feeling that things weren't as right as they appeared to be when they arrived.

"My only advice here is to question what you hear more often, like how I am with you. Now." He stood up and clasped his hands in front of him again. "If this is going to anyone other than Naruto I'm afraid I cannot help you- I only feel comfortable giving any information to the Hokage." His eyes pierced Mitsuki's like he could read his thoughts until Mitsuki finally had to pull his eyes away.

"It will only go to the Hokage," Mitsuki replied quietly. He and Sarada locked eyes for a second and she nodded back almost imperceptibly; she also could sense something was amiss.

He left the room and came back a few minutes later with a scroll. "Here is some research I have on the jutsu but I don't know how much help it will be." They said their goodbyes, the air in the room tense, and Mitsuki and Sarada couldn't hurry back to fresh air fast enough. Even putting the mask back on felt like fresh air this time and they both started out in a sprinted run back for the village.

"He knows something, he was trying to tell us something," Mitsuki said to Sarada as they hopped from tree branch to tree branch next to each other.

"I don't know why he didn't just give us straight up answers though!" Sarada cried. "Is he always like this?!"

"Yes."

"If my dad was there too then I think something is wrong. I think someone lied to us and is using us to get information…"

"Agreed. If we hurry we can be to Lord Hokage within the hour-"

Suddenly, a kunai whizzed past their ears, causing Mitsuki to drop the scroll he was holding. A man in an Anbu mask dropped in front of them. "I can take it from here," he boomed. His deep voice was familiar; Mitsuki instantly placed it as the voice behind the dark veil every time they were addressing the other Anbu.

"Take what from here?" Mitsuki instantly blurted and his arms shot out to pick up the scroll but the other person was faster.

"Getting this information back to base and to the Hokage."

"But…" Sarada said, "that's why we're here…"

"Well, I had a little feeling that things didn't go as well as I would have liked with Orochimaru if this is the only scroll he gave you. I may need to finish the rest of this myself."

"Who are you?" Mitsuki blurted out. "What do you want?" But the masked man paid him no mind and unwound the scroll himself. In a moment he had the seal released and began reading it. "Oh, just as I thought- this isn't the information I wanted at all."

"Wait what-" Sarada started but the man turned the scroll around to face them so they could read it for themselves. The two gasped as they realized the scroll Orochimaru had given to them was a fake; it didn't have any research or jutsus on it at all, but instead was just a short note.

Look to your children for the Akatsuki.

Mitsuki's stomach dropped, all pieces of the puzzle his parent had set before them connecting in his mind. The Akatsuki. But before he could react, six figures emerged from all sides of them wearing Anbu masks. He and Sarada immediately jumped into action, but he knew they were outnumbered even with their skillset. The masked man still held the scroll and didn't even bother fighting back against them even as Sarada activated her sharingan against an increasing number of figures dropping down from the trees; it was like their numbers were infinite, Mitsuki thought. He was just about to yell something to Sarada while activating his own sage mode, but before he could everything went black, and he could only just make out the masked man's words before passing out: "You still have use so we'll be back for you at another time. You'll be safe here until then."

SARADA'S DIARY

I don't know where we are. If you find this and we aren't here, I want to say I am sorry for everything. It's our fault if the village is attacked. I messed up. Mitsuki messed up.

I'm so sorry. Somebody help us.