Disclaimer - I don't own, Naruto. I am grateful for the amazing characters Kishimoto created.
Inspiration - It's been 4 months since my brother's death. This is in Danny's memory.
Title: Itachi's Niece
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Twenty-one. That's how many years he'd lived. He was a ninja before he knew his alphabet. He was an elite Anbu shinobi before puberty and had killed his entire family- save his little brother - under orders before he had his first shave at just thirteen years old. He had infiltrated the Akatsuki terrorist organization at fourteen. And countless times, under the guise of a double agent, saved members of his brother's Team 7, while making them hate him at the same time. At twenty-one, it was a struggle to breathe, the fibrosis of his lungs and the blood clogging his throat was fit punishment for one who'd committed such atrocities — even though under orders. His death, at the symbolic hands of his younger brother, Sasuke, then fourteen years old himself, brought the last Uchiha the greatest power known to their clan and only accomplished by a half-dozen souls — not even their father had the power of the Mangekyo Sharingan.
His Mangekyo Sharingan allowed him to burn away his enemies and to extend time. He tortured Kakashi Hatake for 72 hours straight in only a few moments. That had been an awful experience. His oldest, living friend - miserable and any traces of friendship between them destroyed. It wasn't Kakashi's fault that Sasuke had abandoned the village. It was Itachi's, he'd created the hate in his brother to be so strong, he left behind his friends. But Kakashi could still feel pain and Itachi was numb.
That same eye power had allowed Itachi to live an entire life with his childhood girlfriend as she lay dying in his arms as he'd delivered her fatal attack. Those few moments, were the greatest of his short life and also his worst.
Only hate and despair could trigger this otherworldly power.
Except, that wasn't true was it?
His niece, Sarada, had awakened hers- by loving fiercely.
Itachi had been witness.
After dying and then being brought back under resurrection jutsus Itachi's spirit became lost. He was stuck in limbo, unable to find the Purelands, watching over Sasuke as he'd rejoined Konoha and his friends. He could always find Sasuke. Maybe it was because Sasuke's eyes were in fact Itachi's eyes that had been transplanted. It didn't matter. He couldn't find peace in the after life just yet, so he was contenting himself watching Sasuke live.
Sasuke was married to his kunoichi teammate at nineteen and had a child at twenty. Sarada was the first child born outside of a pure Uchiha union in over a thousand years. It had been second-cousin and third-cousin arrangements since before Konoha's foundation. Was it her Haruno blood or the way she was raised by her mother with an abundance of affection and encouragement to be inquisitive that made the difference?
Would Sarada's Mangekyo Sharingan have the ability to heal and create, rather than destroy?
Itachi had watched his niece's frustration over her inability to perform medical ninjitsu. Sarada wasn't just Sasuke's daughter. Her mother, Sakura, was the greatest healer in Konoha history. Briefly, Itachi had wondered, if he'd survived a bit longer, would his sister-in-law have been capable of healing his fibrotic lungs and mental health?
Sasuke had chosen his partner well. Sakura was genius level intelligence, could repel gengutsus, monstrously strong, and with her precise chakra control in charge of the nation's hospital system. Most importantly, she had loved Sasuke since before the Uchiha massacre and loved him steadily, even during his darkest, depraved periods. Her patience with Sasuke gave the Uchiha clan what it had been missing for years - unconditional love.
Itachi had felt the unfamiliar sense of joy in his spiritual state as he watched the revival of the Uchiha clan. His pink-haired sister-in-law wore the clan's fan proudly embroidered on her clothing. The hospital for mental health in both Konoha and Sand were founded under the Uchiha name. Uchiha meant something else in his new period after the Great Ninja War — something related to hope and healing rather than fear.
Itachi felt himself growing fainter, the world was fading from his awareness. A bright light began to flood his periphery.
"Finally!" the familiar, long-absent, loving voice of his mother was the first sound. He felt the warm embrace of his mother, her long, silky hair brushed across his cheek. She was only a little shorter than him.
Itachi hugged her back. "Mother?" He was afraid to ask, afraid this moment would disappear.
"Itachi, you can rest now," Mikoto said, holding him at arm's length, onyx irises staring back at him. "You saw her, didn't you? Sarada?"
Itachi nodded. "She's a very talented kunoichi."
Mikoto shook her head. "Not that part. She's happy, well, she's upset right now, but she's so happy. So is your brother. Not the fleeting, momentary happiness, but the peace of heart and mind kind."
Itachi felt his cheek twitch and then the corner of his mouth creep into a slow smile. "Yes. They are happy," he agreed.
"I always liked that Sakura," Mikoto confided as she nodded.
"They are in danger," Itachi pointed out. "Sarada wouldn't have activated her Mangekyo Sharingan otherwise."
Mikoto waved her hand dismissively. "Living is dangerous." She wound her arm around Itachi's waist and pulled him away from the edge, towards the center of the lush copse of green trees. Wildflowers blossomed in a colorful carpet on either side of the path. "They'll be here before you know it— time is different here. Though, someone has waited patiently to see you again."
There she was, Itachi's childhood sweetheart. She'd been the girl that had loved him unconditionally. In those moments within his Tsukiyomi, they'd experienced a lifetime.