Disclaimer: not mine
Naruto: 17
Itachi: 13
Sasuke: 7
This is the beta-ed version, thanks to the amazing Lazy-Hime.
Chapter 5
The atmosphere in the Hokage's office was tense and whenever one of the gathered shinobi glanced at the black haired teen standing silently next to the window, his eyes closed, his face blank, it became hostile.
It didn't matter that Itachi hadn't even been in the village at the time of the rebellion or that he had killed his own clansmen when they attacked the Hokage. He was the heir of a clan that had committed treason and therefore suspect in their eyes. It was the natural paranoia that every ninja above Genin-level nurtured; it was what kept them alive.
Not that Itachi cared about the displayed hostility. He had always been hated and envied for his progress, his status, his name. He had learned very early on in life not to care about how others thought or felt about him. At the moment the only thing his mind was able to focus on was his little brother. He needed to find Sasuke, he needed Sasuke.
The door opened and the Yondaime, the Sandaime and Ibiki entered. Their faces were grave and didn't bode well.
Minato took a seat behind his desk, folded his hands on top of it and looked at the gathered Jounin and ANBU.
"Today we faced a serious threat to our village, a threat that came from an unexpected direction, because it was one of our own clans that tried to claim Konoha as their own.
"Still our shinobi stood strong and true; they didn't hesitate to protect their village and defeated the enemy at often a high cost to themselves. I have never been prouder to be able to call myself Hokage.
"The threat has been detained and every single Uchiha has been accounted for, but one. Ibiki, if you could," the blond Hokage gestured for the interrogation expert to take over.
The tall, badly scarred man stood in next to the Hokage's desk. His face was expressionless as he recounted his findings, "After the first couple of interrogations we were able to discern the rough outline of their plan to take over the village.
"First they needed a window of opportunity when both the Hokage and Uchiha Itachi were out of the village. There were two reasons for their need to have Itachi out of the village. First, they knew he would never betray the Hokage. Second, they planned to use his little brother, Uchiha Sasuke, as payment to Orochimaru in exchange for power.
"The Uchiha council had been negotiating with Orochimaru for some time now. Apparently, he had found a way to summon a being of great power and needed both powerful shinobi and a soul to sacrifice to perform the ritual.
"We found the cave in which the summoning took place. There we found the corpse of twelve Uchiha men, the head of the Uchiha clan, Uchiha Fugaku, was one of them, and Orochimaru. Further investigation showed that at one point someone had been bound to a post in the middle of the summoning circle, from the height of the ropes and the footprints on the ground it was most likely a child.
"More tracks outside the cave give evidence of a hunt, after following the trail we found more corpses of Uchiha men, but still no sign of their prey. At this point we assume that they were hunting young Sasuke and whoever took him out of the cave. And whoever it was is dangerous and doesn't hesitate to use lethal force.
"However we lost any trail after the last corpse. I would advise to use dogs in the search; perhaps they will be able to take up the trail again."
Minato nodded his thanks to Ibiki, then addressed the shinobi again, "It has been proven that every single Uchiha, but Itachi and Sasuke, has known or been part of the conspiracy. Since Fugaku is dead, Uchiha Itachi is the new head of the Uchiha clan. His loyalty to Konoha is above doubt and as such, both councils leave the matter of punishment in Itachi's hands."
Several of the Jounin gasped at that revelation, but quickly shut up when Minato glared at them.
"We will send out another search party at once, consisting of Hatake Kakashi, Inuzuka Hana and Uchiha Itachi. You task will be to find Sasuke and his saviour, unhurt if possible. Dismissed."
Among much murmur and last glances at the still unmoving Uchiha the ninja filed out of the room.
"Kakashi, Hana, wait outside, please," Minato ordered the remaining two shinobi. They nodded and left.
"Itachi-kun, before I can allow you to look for your brother I need to know your verdict. What are we to do with your clansmen?" he inquired, his voice low and gentle.
It was a tough decision to force on the young teen. Itachi was smart enough to know that this was a test of his loyalty and leadership ability at the same time. The Uchiha had betrayed their oath of loyalty and if he showed undeserved mercy the Uchiha clan would be stripped of all titles and standings.
Itachi had never cared about the clan and at the moment he only wanted to go out and find his little brother, his reason for existing. The councils might think they were testing him but in truth they had merely presented him with an opportunity to take revenge without becoming an outlaw himself.
Opening raging red eyes he told the Hokage, "Execute every Uchiha by blood, seal the chakra ways of any Uchiha by marriage permanently, and then exile them." His voice was as devoid of emotion as his face.
Surprisingly it wasn't Minato who questioned his verdict, but the Sandaime. "If we talk to the councils I am sure we can get you more time to decide on the fate of your clansmen. You needn't…"
"Sarutobi-sama," Itachi fell in, "please don't call them my clansmen. They are traitors of the Leaf and have given up any rights to the name Uchiha. The councils and the Hokage have given me leave to fell the verdict and my decision stands. Please see to it that it will be carried out accordingly while I am on the mission to find the last Uchiha other than myself, Hokage-sama."
Itachi was already halfway out the door, when he heard Minato's reply, "I will. Good luck on the search, Itachi-kun."
O
I
O
Someone was nearing the cave. Naruto forced his eyes to stay open just a little bit longer; his senses to stay alert long enough to ensure his precious companion's safety.
He knew that his body, so long deprived of food and exercise was already beyond its limits and wouldn't hold out for much longer.
Just one look at the peacefully sleeping bundle that lay curled up in his arms, fingers clutching at his pyjama shirt, was all it took to strengthen his resolve again.
Hands brushing through midnight-black bangs, he marvelled again at the fact that Sasuke was here and alive. During the wild flight through the forest, Naruto's mind had come out of the haze it had been in more and more. He was finally able to think above instinctive terms like "kit in danger".
His instincts no longer categorized Sasuke as "mate"; he was too young to ever be recognized as such again. But the pale boy was still his, therefore his instinct had re-labelled him as "kit". Naruto didn't care. Never again would he trust anyone with the boy's safety again. Never.
There was a rustle at the cave's entrance and Naruto's head shot up, blazing cerulean eyes narrowly observing the cave. Carefully, he put Sasuke down at the wall and hid him from sight with his own body.
He couldn't see anyone else in the cave, but both his instinct told him otherwise.
"Genjutsu," he thought. Naruto knew he had next to no chakra left and what he had was needed to keep him standing and able to move. It was fortunate that he knew of a method to break through a genjutsu that didn't require the use of chakra.
Viciously he stabbed his hand with one of the kunai he had taken from the corpse of one of their pursuers. Ignoring the pain, that paled next to the pain of his burning muscles and chakra ways anyway, his eyes scanned the cave's interior again.
Less than two meters from his position, blue eyes met burning red ones.
A threatening growl made it out of Naruto's mouth. All their pursuers had had the Sharingan so far, which made them Uchiha, and he didn't want to think about the implications of that just now.
Curiously, the figure in front of him made no move to attack them. In fact the he decided to confuse Naruto even more by sitting down on the floor, patiently observing him.
O
I
O
Itachi felt his heart hammering in his chest, when Kakashi's nin-dog finally led them to a well-hidden cage. His brother and an unknown shinobi were in there, hopefully save and sound.
"I'll go in alone, we don't want them to feel threatened and cornered," he stated, already making the his way to the entrance, his hands flowing through the hand seals for a genjutsu that would hide his presence and allow him to judge the situation inside without being noticed.
For once the silver haired Jounin didn't feel the need to question his authority, or ability or right to breathe the same air. Itachi was thankful. He didn't dislike Kakashi; he just reacted to the other's open hostility.
The scene that greeted him inside was strangely endearing. At the far end of the cave sat a blond boy, Sasuke safely encased in his arms. The light lifting and sinking of the young boy's chest told him that his brother was only sleeping, not dead.
Itachi lifted one black eyebrow in surprise when the blond suddenly hid Sasuke behind him. Surprise quickly changed into respect when the he stabbed himself with a kunai, obviously having detected or suspected the use of a genjutsu.
Itachi waited patiently for the blond to see him, before he sat down on the floor, demonstrating he didn't mean to harm then in the only way he could.
TBC
AN: See? Feeding does wonders to my muse ;-)