I had decided I really liked my idea of continuing the story. I hope you all will love what is coming to you since I'm guessing this story will be going on for several chapters. I am going to take some time to carefully put together the next few chapters; after all I don't want anyone figuring things out yet. Thank you everyone for your feedback, I will be patient.

Retribution

Chapter 16

The next few days went by without a problem. If she didn't wake up today they would put her on a feeding tube among other things. He ate the meals that were brought to him but remained for the most part quiet and deep in thought. He hadn't revealed himself to the citizens of Konoha yet even though they knew of his return. With the day coming to an end he was lead out of the room so they could start getting her taken care of and with his brother's urging he went back to Sasuke's place to shower and have their final meal of the day together.

They didn't talk much at first but after they finished eating he finally opened himself up to Sasuke's questions, no doubt about his newly given life and what attracted him to Kagome so much that he fell in love. He quietly waited for Sasuke to choose what to ask about first and he reflected on their moments during the reanimation jutsu. Sasuke had always been curious even if he didn't acknowledge it himself. They were currently walking through Konoha catching everyone's attention as they strolled by. Itachi was having a hard time controlling the urge to roll his eyes and it resulted in him getting an annoying tick on his forehead.

"I can assure you Sasuke that Kagome is nothing like those women," speaking of the ones who dropped dead in a faint at seeing the Uchiha brothers together. Honestly he felt it was ridiculous for them to act in such a way out in public and he had even spotted rings on a few of them.

Sasuke looked at his brother and noticed how stressed he still was, resulting in his agitation and unusual behavior. "So what is she like then?" He wondered if she was anything like Sakura and Ino now that they have matured in some way, at least more so than those women. He still didn't interact much with the female population so he had few kunoichi's to think upon.

"Well, she really isn't a thing like any of the women I have ever met." The kind smiles she would give him and her generosity towards him were things that really stood out to him.

"I was physically attracted to her right from the start but it was her smiles and generosity that began to pull me in. It's hard not too with her. She comes from a different ere in that dimension, one 500 years into the future. I had noticed the power of the well and spotted her using it and requested to speak with her about my dilemma. She welcomed me in her home, offered her help, and treated me like a friend from the start. I found myself wanting to do things for her, anything to help her out and after discovering she had been going off and training alone I began helping her with that too. This is actually the second time I have come to her rescue like this. Due to her circumstances she hadn't even been looking for a husband or lover and after a while I began wanting to then show her I would make a good husband. I had just started being blunt about my feelings and desires when Kabuto had taken her from me." Getting a sudden thought he led them to the park by Sasuke's home.

"How about I show you a few of my memories instead," he suggested and watched his younger brother nod.

He replayed his first memories of her and a few of her friends before showing the ones from her training and target practice and ending with his memory of the day Kabuto took her starting at her hesitant question. Watching his brother come out of the jutsu he turned his attention to the sky.

"She is like you described and more. You did well in choosing her," the light praise from Sasuke relaxed him a little. "I suppose I will be an uncle soon enough," his comment drew Itachi's eyes back to him and they both smiled at the pleasant thought.

Figuring he had spent enough time away from Kagome he bid his brother goodnight and headed back to the Hokage tower to see how she was faring. Everything had apparently gone well and she was still slumbering peacefully on the bed. Seeing the different machines she was hooked up to he read her vitals before sitting down once more next to the bed. Seeing the notes left behind by one of the women he paged through it to see what they have written. She apparently now had the capability of being a kunoichi but he was not about to let that happen.

He lay down on the couch for a while drifting off to slumber but awoke to the sun's rays in his face. It was hard for him to fall asleep again with the intensity of the sun keeping him from doing so. The Kunoichi and Hokage had all been in the room that morning to check for any progress.

From the sounds of it her body has recovered from everything but they could not estimate when she would wake up. He already knew that but at least the physical damage had been fixed and her power recovered. He had handed that glass ball over to Tsunade after expressing that people like the village elders should not know of its existence, his faith and trust in them gone.

Today the Hokage wanted to speak with him in her office; he of course didn't know what was on her mind. She never specified a time so he took his time calmly sitting on the edge of Kagome's bed holding her hand and looking out the window. The village was different with all of the rebuilding and he could see they suffered a lot of losses during the war.

It used to be Shikaku that would be seeing the Hokage for the things that his son was doing instead and he wondered if he had died as well. He would have to ask or find some documents that recorded the war since he had no clue how things went after he passed away.

Seeing an Anbu appear giving him Lady Tsunade's request to see her now he used the Body Flicker Technique to appear in her office. Taking note that Danzo had not been around either he figured his brother must have avenged the clan. Seeing the council in the room he only acknowledged them with a glance of his eyes. Tsunade had an unreadable expression on her face but so far he has come to feel this woman is a great leader and had a strong sense of justice. He after all was still loyal to the village but was unsure if he would want to live here again.

Watching her stand up and walk around the desk and with a hard look at the council they stepped forward too and proceeded to bow. "Itachi," she started, "the village is in your debt for your selfless acts and the final mission you had been given as well. I deeply apologize for what has happened in the past and would like to extend to you full citizenship of the Leaf and your choice to become a shinobi should you so choose it. But before you consider that I would like you to consider staying here for a year and then joining the council. I have already given Sasuke the choice of what land in the village he would like to have since he intends to bring back the Uchiha Clan," she explained.

Pushing forward she continued to say, "Should you choose to stay here again we will pay for the cost of the home you would want built. This is little compared to what you have suffered because of the poor decisions of the past. There is no expiration on these offers so take all the time you need to think it over." The council members, Homura and Koharu, straightened back up, their old age clearly showing in their movements. Itachi swept his gaze over them and then along the view of the village.

He felt a bit humbled, "I thank you Lady Hokage for your generous offer but for now I would have to think about it since it will not be just my decision to make."

Kagome was still comatose; she figured he would want to wait until she woke up. "Very well, we will respect that. I will be down soon to check on her, let me know if there is anything we can do for you." With that he used the Body Flicker Technique and went back to her room and resumed his spot.

He could tell that the whole meeting was the Hokage's idea; he wasn't fool enough to think the council was giving him a warm welcome. The idea though of serving on the council did catch his interest and the offers did speak for themselves, the Fifth Hokage must truly wish to try and repair some of the damage and value his loyalty. It was definitely something to think about but he would not give an answer for now.

A week passed by and he began to have visitors regularly, those mainly consisting of Naruto, his brother, and Kakashi. Several times now Kagome had stirred in her sleep as if trying to wake up before she was plunged into slumber once more and it had gained everyone's attention. Sakura had already run various tests on her and so far the majority of them were coming out fine but they were having a hard time figuring out what was going on. Itachi and Sasuke had tried to enter her mind several times now with lots of difficulty. Of all the things they would get forced out by another sharingan eye.

Sakura stood silent as test results came back. She had made a special trip to collect samples from the lab that Kagome was being experimented in. The results and several other things were becoming confusing and she was really starting to not like the looks of things. She had made another trip with Sasuke and Hinata to check out the whole hideout and find more on the situation. What they ended up uncovering with Orochimaru's help was years' worth of research and preparing.

They had yet to tell Itachi but after all of these results, samples, and notes they knew it was best to finally start bringing their findings to light. After setting up a large table in the room Kagome rested in they divided the work and asked others to help go through it.

Shino, Hinata, Sakura, Sai, Sasuke, Kakashi, Itachi, Shikamaru, and Ino spent the next several days paging through the notes and writing a quick summary, giving a report on their findings every three days for a little over a week before they were able to finally put everything together. Itachi had revealed some startling news about Kagome, something most would look over but his sharp brain caught right away. The problem though was that there was still missing information that would complete the puzzle and show just what Kabuto had been doing.

Tsunade couldn't believe it, the past was still coming for them and she wondered what plot Kabuto put into motion. Even though it might have been coincidence that Itachi fell in love with her it was not coincidence that she had been chosen as the test subject for Kabuto. Itachi had already spent time projecting a memory here and there about his time with Kagome. Kabuto had deceived them, made them think she was from another dimension but as she dove into history much further than Kaguya she had found maps and articles about places and events that happened ages ago. They were in the future, so far that the continents had changed to what they are now. The world had changed but there were still similarities so she made up her mind.

"Itachi, I need you to go back to where you met Kagome and go through the well to her original era and bring back as much information including maps as you can. I also want you to take pictures of the clearing the well sat in as well as the shrine. We will take care of Kagome and once you're back I will have a team set to try and break into her mind." Peace might not be in their grasps after all, not just yet.