Author's Corner:
Oh snap! Started from the bottom now we're here! I'm sorry, that was bad. Don't hate me.
So this isn't really a chapter, it's more of a drabble I wanted to write just to hit some points I wasn't sure would make it to Part 2. If you skip this chapter, honestly, you'll be fine since a lot of the stuff will probably end up being repeated at some point in later chapters. But I hope you enjoy it regardless.
And don't worry, this won't be a regular thing. Starting with part 2, the Author's Corner will once again take its place at the foot of the story.
Part 1.5
It had been two weeks since the Danzo incident, and both Itachi and Shisui were surprised at how quickly everything had returned to normal. Or rather, how quickly their lives had returned to normal. It was disturbing how ignorant the villagers were about Danzo's actions. He had allegedly given his life for the village, a statement that while technically true, was wrong enough for Shisui to feel sick.
Despite Homura and Koharu's fierce objections, Orochimaru pardoned the Uchiha clan on the grounds that "the only thing that can be proven is that Danzo used his illegally obtained Sharingan to manipulate the clan," which gave Itachi the feeling Orochimaru simply wanted to keep one of Konoha's most powerful clans within the village.
When Itachi had asked Fugaku how Orochimaru had delayed the coup d'etat, the Uchiha clan head merely said "he held them back with the gates of hell themselves". Within the next few weeks, Fugaku became part of the Council. Partly this was so that he could voice the Uchiha clan's frustrations to the Council and partly, as Itachi and Shisui believed, so that he wouldn't have the time to spearhead another rebellion. The heads of Konoha's other noble houses also joined the Council, although Koharu and Homura and even Hiruzen voiced varying levels of disapproval. But the Yondaime clearly was not intending to paint himself as a conservative Hokage.
After a few more months, Itachi resigned from the ANBU. He had had enough secret missions and the like for a lifetime and he was in no hurry to do anymore. He thought about joining the police force, but then Shisui resigned from that and the two decided to just be normal ninja. They achieved jonin rank within six months of their respective resignations.
When they weren't on missions, Itachi and Shisui spent most of their time just hanging out or training. Usually their training consisted of practicing with Sasuke and more often than not, Naruto. The two had become more than inseparable, even though they had a burning rivalry over who would become the next Hokage between the two of them. It was a common occurrence for anyone who knew the two to be hunted down and forced to answer who they thought would make the better Hokage. It astounded the boys how many ways adults could worm their way out of making a decision.
When they were in the mood for a challenge, the boys would challenge Kakashi. When the latter first found out that Shisui was missing an eye, Kakashi pleaded with the younger boy to take Obito's eye but Shisui would have none of it. Eventually, Shisui too began seeing Kakashi as an older brother. The trio became so close that Kakashi eventually taught them how to do his original technique - the Chidori. Kushina was furious when she found out, but Fugaku approved of the technique whole-heartedly.
Kakashi, of course, was an adult by then and had pretty much moved out of the Namikaze house although Kushina could always guilt-trip him into babysitting Naruto and Sasuke (not that they couldn't take care of themselves, but after a "training session" nearly destroyed the house it was unanimously decided that the boys could never be alone together). Konoha's infamous Copy Ninja as he began to be known found himself spending more time with Tsunade's apprentice. Had it not been for Kushina's "helpful advice" (which Kakashi would later refer to as relentless pushing), he would have never asked her out. Kushina, Naruto, and Sasuke would then continue to pester him about wedding dates.
Tsunade was glad to see Shizune finally being able to have a relationship. Years wandering around had done little for the girl's social life. Of course, this meant more work for Tsunade but she didn't quite mind. The Sannin spent most of her times running the hospital and training the staff. Orochimaru had turned down her attempt to institute four-man teams, but he did make basic medical skills a requirement to become a jonin and Tsunade decided that was a fair compromise. The relationship between Tsunade and Orochimaru wasn't exactly a secret, but Tsunade still nearly choked on her sake when Kabuto asked if they would ever get married. She promised that it would happen when the time was right.
Kabuto himself bloomed into a fine ninja and he became a sort of understudy to Jiraiya when it came to spying. He already had extensive training the art of sneaking into a village, but Jiraiya turned him to an expert. Between the two of them, Orochimaru had a constant stream of information coming to him.
When Sunagakure finally stabilized its finances, they become Konoha's staunchest ally. Although Konoha never officially reconciled with Kumo, the two retained a healthy avoidance of each other. Gaara, thanks mostly to Naruto's influence the Kazekage would admit to Chiyo in private, was successfully rehabilitated. The Kazekage found that something as small as having the support of all his children made running the village seem like much less of a burden. Chiyo continued to sneak poison to the Kazekage's kids in order to beef up their immune systems. As Kushina had said, love was the strongest counter to a bijuu's hate. Between her seals and his father's training, Gaara finally got to experience the joy of sleeping in (although he still occasionally had nightmares).
Before Itachi had even realized, it was almost time for Sasuke and Naruto to graduate from the Academy. Kakashi attempted to request Naruto and Sasuke to be on his team, but Orochimaru denied that request almost immediately. Kakashi was slightly disappointed, but not particularly surprised. When Orochimaru released the preliminary ideas for the three-man genin cells, there were several surprises. Akimichi Choza requested, several times in fact, for his son Choji to be placed on a team with Nara Shikamaru and Yamanaka Ino, but Orochimaru denied them all.
The Namikaze had set off on their regular journey to Sunagakure a few weeks before graduation, so Naruto had to take his Genin Exams early. Gaara was more than impressed, even though he had already graduated. By this point, the Namikaze visits were more playdates than anything else. The Kazekage had long-since learned the necessary seals to keep Shukaku at bay. But the boys were extremely determined to be the Kages of their respective villages and took their "diplomatic practices" very seriously, much to the amusement of the adults.
And Itachi and Shisui would regularly meet up at the spot of Danzo's death. It wasn't quite a memorial service, but every year they would go to that spot and were suddenly thankful for everything they had in their lives. They were thankful for family and for friends and for Konoha. And they were thankful for each other. Every year, at that spot, the two boys remembered everything they had been through together and renewed their promise to be there for each other no matter what.