A Perception of Reality

by knightchaser

There is a belief that states for every action taken, the alternative action is played out in another dimension. In one reality Itachi succeeded in killing his clan, in another, he failed. This is the story of what happened when he failed.

59. Chapter 59 A Day in Spring

Thanks for all the reviews and favs!

Kisame!!! Not much else to say…

Disclaimer: Naruto is owned by Kishimoto

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Chapter 59 – A day in Spring

"It's so cliché to break into a secured room at night, don't you think?" Sakura whispered as she watched Kabuto run through a series of hand signs, overriding the security of the engineering office. It was around two in the morning and the underground facility was almost completely deserted. However, there had been jutsus all over the place to prevent intrusion; all of which the white-haired medic had easily broken.

"I never thought of it that way." Kabuto answered quietly as he slid the door open and surveyed the room. "But if you want to think of it that way, everything we do is a cliché." It was an office area, containing several desks, computers, file cabinets and hopefully, secrets that could be used by Konoha to get their hands on Danzou.

The lights came on automatically as they entered the room, but while Sai and Sakura were put on alert by the sudden illumination; Kabuto ignored it and went straight to a row of file cabinets. "I'll start here. You guys, do whatever… just look for something."

"Of course." Sai responded professionally.

"I'll look at the files on top of the desks." Sakura offered, moving to the nearest desk.

The minutes ticked by as they carefully filtered through files, papers, ledgers and anything else that caught their attention. It was tedious and soon enough all three were yawning. However, the furthest thing from their minds was sleep. Konoha had commanded them to find a weakness, a way to defeat Danzou and his new village, and the trio was determined to find it.

"These people are very thorough." Sai finally muttered an hour later. "There is nothing here, and we shouldn't stay any longer."

Kabuto closed the file cabinet he had been searching and leaned his back against it, "There must be a hidden room around here somewhere. Nothing in these cabinets is of a sensitive nature and since this is the engineering department they must have maps or plans or something that details how the trees are connected."

Sai and Sakura closed their eyes and concentrated their chakra on the area, looking for anything that might reveal the presence of a chakra seal that could possibly hide the suspected room.

Kabuto, however, looked around the room. He suspected that a man as powerful and shrewd as Danzou would be able to design a secret room that could not be so easily detected. Yawning, he stood back from the file cabinet lined wall and looked closely at the polished wood. The cabinets had held nothing more than simple purchase orders, household repair logs for ninja and civilian residences, and repair schedules. Nothing to indicate the high-level activities he knew were going on here.

"There's something odd about this." Kabuto muttered to himself. The other two opened their eyes and watched curiously as their companion began to pace from one end of the file cabinets to the other, keeping his eyes on the wall.

Sai pulled out a notebook and drew an ink creature that jumped off the page and began to slither along the ground. The flat snake looked up at its master, waiting for a command. The boy brought his hands up, forming a series of signs before pointing to the wall.

"Find an opening and enter, then return to me." Everyone watched as the creature sailed up into the air and began to fly back and forth on leathery wings. Soon enough it dived straight at the center of the wall and seemingly flew straight through it.

"Odd." Kabuto moved closer to the mysterious spot, stepping back suddenly as the creature reappeared and made its way back to Sai. Falling onto an open sheet of paper, the drawing of an ink creature was replaced with kanji.

"The room you predicted is there." Sai intoned emotionlessly, "But the question now is how to get into it."

Sakura spoke up, "We've been here an hour and a half. Should we come back tomorrow?" Her Root training had taught her that the longer one stayed in a location, the more risky the mission. It was better to return at another time.

"I've spent hours in secured locations before and never been found." Kabuto boasted. "Don't worry so much."

"You sound like a man who is living on borrowed time." Sai commented dryly. He agreed with Sakura, they should stick to their training and return later.

"My entire life, Sai. Sometimes I wonder if I'm nothing more than a zombie and this thing I call my 'life' is nothing more than a set of false memories implanted by Sasori into one of his puppets."

Sakura's eyes opened wide, "Whoa. That's messed up."

Kabuto laughed and scratched the back of his head, "I even cut open my stomach once when I was a kid to make sure there were guts in there. Good thing my Kekkei Genkai lets me heal fast." He thought back to his early life in Konoha and the nightmares that had plagued his slumber. After a particularly bad one he had been so panicked he had been driven to cut himself open. The relief he had felt upon discovering his stomach was not an empty cavity had actually lessened the bad dreams to such an extent that he then wondered if Sasori had been the one causing them and not his own childish fear of the unknown.

"Poor kid." Sakura sighed, "But I guess I might have done the same thing. From what I've heard about Sasori, he's pretty gruesome."

"Yeah. Anyway…" Kabuto returned his attention to the wall, "let's compromise and aim for one more hour. That okay?"

"Sure." Sakura relented, "Any idea yet how to open it?"

"Well, we've got all these cabinets in the way… there must be away to move them or something…" The teen's voice trailed off as he stared blankly at the scene before him. Each gray cabinet was about five feet tall and aligned perfectly so that they filled the entire length of the room. He looked up at the spot Sai's ink creature had disappeared into a few minutes earlier.

Moving closer, Kabuto raised a hand to see if he could feel any kind of breeze or other indication that there was an opening above him. Sensing nothing he decided to take a risk and jumped to the top of the cabinets. The metallic "clang" that rang out when landed echoed throughout the empty room, making Sakura cringe.

"Kabuto! Be more quiet…" The girl blinked a couple times, then creased her brow curiously, "Should that cabinet be able to hold your weight?"

Kabuto chuckled, "No, it shouldn't."

Sai grinned widely, "I think we found the door."

"Or at least the porch." Kabuto amended. "This is not a normal cabinet. It's very sturdy up here, like it's attached to the wall and if I'm not mistaken this feels like it's made of wood and covered with metal." He placed a hand tentatively against the wall, but was surprised when it easily passed through.

"Some sort of a Genjutsu?" Sai speculated.

"No… it's a jutsu… but it's unlike any I've ever seen. I don't sense any chakra from it, at all. It's perfectly disguised."

Sai smiled and jumped up next to Kabuto. "Amazing."

"You first." Kabuto shoved the younger boy through the wall.

"Hey! That was dangerous!" Sai yelled from the other side.

"I take it you're still alive." Kabuto laughed, then followed his companion through the barrier, "Sakura, stay here and let us know if anyone approaches."

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The inside of barrier wasn't particularly awe-inspiring. In fact, it was a mirror image of the room they had just left. Upon crossing through the invisible wall, Kabuto stepped onto another set of cabinets and jumped down to the floor. The desks were arranged in the same symmetrical pattern, the notices posted on the walls were the same and even the arrangement of the ledgers, manuals and papers on the desks were identical.

"How odd." Kabuto muttered.

"This is one powerful jutsu." Sai commented, "Let's hope we don't run into the person who cast this."

"Hmm." Kabuto silently prayed for the same thing. Fighting someone who could cast barriers of this magnitude would be able to mess with your mind just as easily as a Genjutsu user. Except for one difference. The area inside the barrier was real and couldn't be dispelled.

"The stuff in the cabinets is much more in line with what we expected to find down here." Sai added. "Look at this, maintenance schedules for the tunnels that connect the trees. There's even a diagram."

"We need a diagram of the secret tunnels in Ki. If we can get access to those it would be a good way to infiltrate…"

"That poster looks odd." Sai interrupted. He looked closer at one of the safety posters hanging on the wall warning workers about the evils of not washing their hands before eating. "The bottom is curled up and frayed."

"There's something under it." Kabuto began pulling tacks out of the wall, only to have the safety poster disappear. There had been a jutsu cast on the pins that projected a false image over the real one. "Stupid of them to fray the edges. It looked too much like there was something under it."

"Maybe they want us to see this? Maybe it's fake?" Sai suggested.

Kabuto glanced around the room, "They're all like that. I think it's just poor planning. Anyway, this is definitely what we're looking for. Can you copy it and send it to Konoha?"

"Give me a few minutes." Sai responded.

Sakura's voice interrupted them, "Someone's coming! They're in the hall!"

"Make that a few seconds, Sai." Kabuto jumped back to the file cabinets, "I'm going to back Sakura up…"

He was interrupted by a short scream coming from the other room, and the sudden arrival of twenty Shinobi.

"So, the traitors finally make their move." A man with a mask over his face stepped forward. "I told Danzou not to let you come here, Kabuto. I knew you would not betray Konoha so I've been following you. And you two…" He looked over at Sai who was leaning against the wall with his hands behind his back and then at Sakura who had just been pushed through the fake wall, "are the worst traitors one could imagine. I will enjoy watching your execution."

Kabuto looked around and realized that the office, although it seemed large when empty, had grown a lot smaller with all the extra people. Or so it had seemed. There was literally no room to fight, and if he won, there was no way to get out of Ki. He glanced over at Sai and saw him slowly lift his hands and wrap them around his chest.

'We can't escape,' Kabuto thought to himself, 'but hopefully Sai was able to get the message out.'

"You aren't going to fight?" the man asked, smirking.

"No point." Kabuto stated truthfully. 'Besides,' he continued silently, 'it doesn't sound you're going to kill us outright anyway. Might as well bide my time for a while.'

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Madara leaned up against a tree as he watched Sasuke playing soccer with several other Uchiha teens. Karin and Juugo were also playing. In fact, Juugo had been unanimously voted the best goalie ever after blocking every single kick the opposing team delivered. Karin had never played before, but a couple girls had latched onto her and she was quickly getting the gist of it.

Sasuke, it turned out, was quite good and admitted that he and his friends in Konoha would often play soccer in the park and even mentioned that it was Itachi's favorite sport. Even though neither of them followed any professional teams.

The elder Uchiha was reminded of his first meeting with Itachi. After healing the four-year-old's wounds and returning him to his room he had noticed a soccer ball placed carefully on a shelf. He had lifted it up and looked at it carefully, noticing that the black and white ball was far too clean. As if it had never been played with, or had been used only a few times.

"I had no idea Itachi had a favorite sport." Madara said out loud.

"I doubt he ever played like this." Aya spoke up as she approached her husband. "I don't remember it anyway."

"It's a shame. Even I played as a child." Madara added. "Sasuke seems to be adjusting well."

"He's got two personalities though. Or at least, that's how it seems to me."

He sighed, "Most good warriors do. Otherwise, they can't return home to their families and then go out the next day and slaughter twenty people. My son's potential is scary."

"You think he'll be able to do that?"

"I'll make sure he'll be able to do that." Madara stated plainly, "He must be able to go up against Konoha when the time comes. With Pein gone I have to get Sasuke up to my level as quickly as possible."

"How? I mean, he's not going to want to attack his home. And I don't want him to attack Konoha." Aya was rather fearful at the prospect of her family, especially her sisters and their children, being put in danger.

Madara realized what he had said and backed off, "That would only happen if they attack us first. The fact is, Fugaku wants to stop me. My plan needs to succeed, so there can be peace throughout the world. So our children can grow up without the need for war or famine. Fugaku only sees his own needs and looks no further than his own comfort. There is a broader world out their, Aya. I am thinking of everyone. Of everything."

"I hope so." Aya whispered to herself, but her attention quickly turned back to the field when Juugo suddenly doubled in bulk and started roaring "Kill! Kill!" over and over.

"There he goes again." Madara sighed.

Sasuke ran forward and grabbed his friends arm, "Calm down Juugo." His voice seemed to cut through the older boy's rage and he quickly calmed down, then slumped down onto the ground as if exhausted. The other kids, who had been standing back walked forward tentatively asking if their prize goalie was okay.

Sasuke nodded, "Yeah, he's fine. But he's always a little tired after these episodes."

"I'm okay." Juugo slowly stood back up and yawned. "Sorry about that, but I think I'm going to lay down for a few minutes." He walked to the edge of the field by a small set of bleachers and lay down on the ground, falling asleep almost immediately.

"I don't remember him being that sleepy after an episode." Karin commented, concerned.

Madara stepped forward, with Aya following closely, "The clansman I have following him around used a special jutsu that kicks in when one of these attacks happens. It weakens him substantially in order to lessen the severity of his anger and transformation. If Sasuke hadn't stopped him, he would have collapsed within thirty seconds."

Karin shook her head, "He can still do a lot of damage in that time, but I wonder why Orochimaru never did something like that to him."

Sasuke answered, "He was studying him. He wanted the attacks to happen so he could drool over Juugo's power."

"Unforgiveable. That's why he came to Orochimaru in the first place. To find a cure." Karin stuck her hands in her pockets and pouted.

"Anyway," Madara interrupted, "it's almost two o'clock Sasuke and I wanted to go through some drills with you."

The group dispersed, with several people volunteering to help Juugo back to his room. The large twelve-year-old was as big as an adult and very heavy.

As Sasuke watched his friends leave the smile on his face slowly disappeared to be replaced with an emotionless mask. Tensing, he glanced up at the tall man standing next to him. A few weeks earlier Madara had left for a few days, and when he had returned he had, somehow, been different. Sasuke's training schedule had doubled and the intensity of the jutsu's had tripled. The boy knew he was being powered up, but the reasons why escaped him.

"What's wrong?" Madara smiled warmly and patted the boy on the shoulder.

"Nothing. Let's get started then."

"First, I have a mission for you." He glanced over at Aya, who nodded once and used a jutsu to disappear, leaving Madara alone with his son.

"I don't work for you, remember?"

"This isn't for Mist and this isn't for Akatsuki. This is for me. You didn't think you were going to live here rent free did you?" Madara chuckled.

Sasuke sneered, "Humph. I guess I did."

The older man broke out in laughter, "You're a cheeky kid, aren't you? Well, anyway, this mission should be quick. There is a merchant travelling about two miles from the village. He's on Water countries most wanted list for fraud."

"Fraud?" Sasuke wondered why a ninja would bother with such a thing. It sounded like something a policeman would deal with. Although he had to admit, he didn't know a lot about what "fraud" entailed, other than a basic definition.

"Hundreds of people have lost millions of ryuu to him. He promises a service, collects the money, and disappears. In a poor country like this one, loosing money could mean death. You can't feed your family or buy medicine or travel to another village to get a job. Or you can't repair your house and freeze to death… he has done it all and many people have died from his actions."

"What an idiot. But if he's just a merchant, why hasn't anyone taken him down before?"

"Good question. Sometimes I think people like being defrauded because they don't complain, but in reality it turned out I was wrong. The man is a powerful ninja with advanced Genjutsu skills. He tricks people into falling for his schemes and giving him their life's savings."

"Wow. So you want me to bring him in?"

Madara smirked, "No, Sasuke. I want you to assassinate him and bring back just his head."

"Assassinate? Like that lesson from last week?" Sasuke was feeling a little squeamish. He had killed before, but it had always been during an open confrontation. Sneaking around… even though he was a ninja… seemed odd to him. Not "wrong", but somehow not "right" either.

"I'll be following from a distance to judge your skills, so don't mess up." He bent down until he was at eye level with the boy, "Or I'll tell Aya to send you to bed without your dinner."

Sasuke grunted, annoyed, "Yeah right. Like she would really do that."

"Yeah. She'd probably give you twice as much food just to spite me." Madara laughed. "Let's get going, I'll fill you in on the details as we go."

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Sasuke was surprised when he saw his target. The small man couldn't have been any taller than five feet and was bent over as he rode his horse. As if bearing a great burden on his back.

"This had better not be another trick." Sasuke whispered. He remembered the "ceremony" when he had killed a boy he had been told was a murderer. The boy was innocent and had, in reality, never hurt anyone. He looked over at where Madara was leaning against a tree. The man had a serious look on his face and Sasuke suddenly wondered what would happen if he failed. Probably nothing pleasant if the man's expression was any indication.

Moving silently along the muddy trail Sasuke use the ever-present fog to mask his presence. The early spring forest was nearly silent except for the occasional chirping of birds or the wind brushing against the trees and shrubs. He looked carefully at the horse to see if there were any traps set up. While it wasn't a common practice, some people would use devices imbued with chakra to help sense out other chakra sources. Just in case, Sasuke masked his chakra.

Just as the man moved into a large clearing Sasuke made his move. Pulling a kunai he broke into a run and jumped up to the back of the horse, then reached down and slit the man's neck. The merchant slipped off his horse, falling onto the ground with a thud. Sasuke landed on his feet next to the body and watched for the two minutes it took the man to die. It was grisly and the dying man's eyes were focused on him until the very end.

Taking a deep breath, Sasuke gulped then began the process of cutting off the head and placing it in a bag. He then felt the need to verify the man's identity… to verify Madara's story. Stepping over to the horse he began to rifle through the deceased bags.

The first thing that occurred to the boy, however, had nothing to do with the man's identity, but how calm the horse was acting. It hadn't reacted when he had jumped on it, it hadn't reacted to it's master being killed, and it was ignored the smell of blood in the air. Sasuke had to admit he knew very little about horses, but he was almost positive the animal should have run off in fear by now.

Continuing his search he found a bag with several thousand ryuu bills in it. Banks were a bad place to keep money in Water country so most people hid their money. Carrying around this much was an open invitation to thieves. Only the very stupid or the very strong would even attempt it. Digging a little further he found a folder with about fifty flyers in it advertising a security system for five-hundred ryuu that could detect criminal intent and keep your family safe.

"Okay… I think it's safe to say this guy is a fraud." Sasuke said out loud. It was nearly impossible to detect such a thing unless you were a "sensor-type" ninja. And it was impossible to imbue that ability into an object.

"Happy?" Madara asked as he approached the scene.

"Yeah. It looks like he was pretty shady."

"Good boy. A simple job, but I hope you see how easy that was compared to an open attack. That is the essence of the ninja. And you still have all your chakra so if he had a companion with him that was dangerous, you could still fight."

Sasuke agreed, but he still felt odd about it and Madara was able to read the boy's hesitation in his face. But there was nothing to be done. Only experience could wipe away that feeling. That was one thing the man knew for sure. It had been one of the hardest lessons of his own childhood, but he knew it was probably the most essential one for a ninja to learn.

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"How come you're not on the list of Jounin candidates?" Naruto was looking at the list Fugaku had dropped on the table before leaving the living room to retrieve something.

"Me?" Itachi asked absent-mindedly. He was currently engrossed in a book about childhood development that Sheeta had coerced him into reading and, like most books he read, was finding it engrossing.

"Who else is in here? Of course you. You're better than everyone else in the village, I'd bet my life on it."

"Please don't say things like that." Itachi felt a chill run up his spine at the thought of Naruto having to be this life on anything. The boy still didn't seem to understand just how much of a target he was despite all the lectures he had received.

"Okay… But why aren't you on the list?" Naruto was insistent on getting an answer.

"Because I have more important things to do than wasting time on some stupid test, and father knows that. The test takes two months from start to finish. There's too much going on right now."

"Oh." The boy was silent for a couple minutes before continuing, "Is that a good book?"

"I guess. I'm not sure I believe everything they're saying though." He put it down. And looked at the paperwork his father had left behind. He had to admit, he hadn't even considered becoming a Jounin. His experience with the Chuunin exam had soured him to such an extent that he never wanted to take another test again. As the future leader of the Uchiha clan he didn't see it as a benefit anyway. His future was as a police chief, not a Jounin.

"How long will Sheeta's test take? She left hours ago."

"Several hours. Mother said they would be back around four. But then again, they may be going out to lunch after the test… Oh I guess they can't. Sheeta isn't allowed to eat out."

They were interrupted when the phone rang. Because it was rarely used, Itachi stared at it for a few second before rising from the couch to answer. Surprisingly, Haku was on the other end.

"Itachi? Sheeta collapsed and was taken to the hospital, get over here right now."

Hanging the phone up the teen stared at the hallway as his heart slowly fell into his stomach and every nerve in his body iced over.

"Itachi… what's wrong?" Fugaku appeared next to him, holding a file folder stuffed with paper, "You're as white as a ghost."

"Sh…Sheeta's been admitted to the hospital… I gotta go…" He used a jutsu to disappear, leaving Fugaku and Naruto alone.

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Itachi ran into the hospital and skidded to a stop by the front desk. The nurse looked up at him and pointed to the waiting area, "Please have a seat. Lady Mikoto is over there already. Lady Tsunade will be out soon with more information."

"No! I have to see her!" Itachi was insistent. He didn't want to leave Sheeta alone. She didn't like to be alone.

"Come over here." Mikoto's kind voice broke through the fog in his brain and looked up at his mother, then behind him where Fugaku and Naruto had suddenly appeared. "Tsunade is taking care of her. We'll just have to wait."

He followed his mother to several chairs where the family sat down. Itachi noticed that there were no "she'll be okay", or "don't worry" comments forthcoming and his stomach began to knot even tighter.

"What happened?" Itachi whispered, unable to raise his voice any louder.

"I don't know. She finished her test and was talking to the teacher when one of the other examinees collapsed and began to convulse. While everyone was rushing to help him, two other's also collapsed. Then Sheeta… she also fainted and when they got her here she was bleeding."

"A miscarriage?" Itachi could barely get the words out. After tricking her into getting pregnant, postponing the wedding for months, having her sign a marriage certificate without a ceremony and moving her into his house it seemed unreal. It couldn't be happening.

"Tsunade…" Mikoto was interrupted by her son, sounding more desperate and upset than she had seen him in years.

"Tsunade isn't a miracle worker! She can't fix everything!"

"Itachi…" Mikoto tried once again to console her son.

"Don't give me that mother! I'm not an idiot who can be soothed by false words." He then turned his anger to the cause of the situation, "What's being done about the other examinees? Who did this? When I find them I'll kill them in so many ways they'll wish I was never born!"

"The others are being treated… two… two have already died…" His mother's voice faded away and Fugaku stood up, growling under his breath.

"Excuse me. I need to look into this." He started to walk away before noticing that Itachi was planning on shadowing him. "Stay here, son. And don't worry. Whoever it is that did this, I swear I will save him for you and you alone."

Itachi stopped walking and stared as his father disappeared through the inner doors of the hospital, no doubt on his way to the security office. He heard someone sniffing and saw Sheeta's aunt and uncle rushing in. Mikoto quickly filled them in on the situation, but Itachi only heard some of the words.

"It's all my fault." Itachi muttered. "If I had… If I…" His voice faded away as he dropped back down into his chair.

Two hours later a very stressed out Tsunade walked resolutely out of the treatment area and joined the group in the waiting room. She was running her hand through her hair and grinding her teeth.

"I'm sorry for making you wait out here for so long." She addressed them in a soothing voice that belied her stern appearance, "Sheeta is stable for now, but the baby is still having problems. We are keeping an eye on the situation and will do everything we can to save your child."

"Thank you, Tsunade." Itachi wanted to smile, but his mouth wouldn't move. The grief was still there and while the news was good, it wasn't good enough. "What about the poison? What was it?"

"I don't recognize it. It was fast acting and the two people who died had pre-existing conditions that reacted badly to the poison. They basically had no chance of survival from the outset. Everyone else who took the test, including the examiners were poisoned. They are all stable for now, but in a minute I'll be in the lab helping Shizune to fine the antidote. Fugaku had directed a full inquiry and has ANBU and the police investigating."

Itachi nodded, he had been wondering why his father hadn't returned. "Will that help the baby?"

"The poison is reacting badly to the poison that was already in Sheeta's system. I really don't know what will happen when I apply the antidote. It may help the situation, or it may do nothing. Itachi, I hate to say it, but you may want to prepare yourself for the worst."

"No! I won't!" Itachi yelled.

"Itachi." Mikoto stood up and laid a hand on her son's back.

"The poison… Itachi, if I could figure out an antidote to counteract the original poison… The one I used on you doesn't work on Sheeta. It's an intelligent virus and like nothing I've never seen. Chiyo of Sand country couldn't even identify it. And she and I are the only experienced poison specialists left."

"Chiyo…" A light went on in Itachi's head and he grabbed Tsunade's hand, "Give me a sample of the poison. I know of someone else who could help. Damn it! Why didn't I think of him before?"

Tsunade, as well as everyone else, looked at the teen curiously as he stared determinately at the woman in front of him. "Alright. I'll order a nurse to bring several out right away. I don't know what you're planning, but at this point, any help you can get is welcome. In the meantime, you can go see Sheeta. Keep it brief, she's very tired."

Itachi was the first one in the room, pushing past everyone to get a glimpse of his wife. She was very pale, sweat stood out on her forehead and was hooked up to several diagnostic devices and IV's. He kissed her lightly and sat on a chair at the side of the bed. She was too weak to say anything and stared at the small group with glassy eyes.

"Sheeta," Itachi spoke as calmly as he could, but he could feel and hear his voice shaking, "I'm going to be gone for several days. I know someone who might be able to help and I'm going to go see him. Please hold on until then."

In response she blinked her eyes and one small tear dripped from her eye as she drifted into unconsciousness.

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Next week, Itachi seeks help with the one person he never thought he would have to bargain with. And we find out if Sai was able to get the information to Konoha.

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