A/N: Hello people! Just to make sure that I haven't disappeared off the face of the earth here, I am adding this chapter and this is a little sad because Sasuke is saying good bye to his family, including Itachi. You guys might like how Itachi is taking his little brother's departure and the majority of you might throw bricks at me.

I do NOT OWN ANY of the Naruto character or the movie this story is based off. For those who know this movie, I am telling you that this story is going to have some big differences between the two. The plot is still sort of the same but I'm making a few tweaks to make it my own; as much as I can at least. Thank you all who've read and supported this story and I applaud to those who still wait patiently for my other stories. Thank you and enjoy!

Ch. 3: This Might be Goodbye Forever

"Where the heck were you two?" a rather angry looking red hair screams as soon as her three brothers appear. She's especially screaming at the two raven heads, causing Sasuke to try and hide away from her.

"So scary…" he mumbles, his voice almost a whimper as he leans against his nii-san's neck. Itachi only chuckles before raising a hand to the frightened Uchiha's arm as comfort. Karin continues to scream.

"We've been calling you for god knows how long! Then when you two didn't show up, I had to give the stupid pond of water directions on where to find you because he knows I'm going to bite your heads off when I found you! What the hell were you two doing?"

Suigetsu answers, "The two love birds over here were making out when I found them," before Itachi was going to scold her about her use of profanity. After that answer, there was only a moment of silence before the demon is released.

A glowing red hand shots out from behind Suigetsu, over his shoulder and soon, the whole arm appears. The glowing hand grabs his neck, blocking the chakra flow so that the white hair won't escape and the hand squeezes. Suigetsu already knows who the hand belongs too and he's a bit afraid to look up or he might see his own death being played in Itachi's furious, Sharingan eyes. But instead of looking at how dangerous Itachi is right now, he hears it when he hears his older whisper in his ear, "Don't say such inappropriate things. We have infants present here and I'm sure you don't want to die as one. So I suggest you stop spitting out lies or keep your mouth shut. Unless, you want me to do that for you."

Itachi can feel his younger brother shivering under his hand and he can sense the fear inside his trembling body. Before the boy goes into shock, Itachi releases him and Suigetsu instantly pulls away and takes several steps back away from his older brother. He rubs his neck and wonders, 'What about violence? You want to reveal that more than sexual harassment?'

Itachi still looks kind of dangerous as Sasuke smiles and giggles from Suigetsu's reaction. His giggles cause the oldest Uchiha to calm his anger and Sasuke comments, "Nii-san can scare anyone. He's so cool!" Itachi eventually puts on a half smile from Sasuke's words and Suigetsu narrows his eyes and his mouth becomes partially open. A face of disbelief and slight disgust.

He has one brow twitching as thinks, 'How is being able to scare the living crap out of anyone a cool thing?'

Then Sasuke glares at him, not as dangerous as Itachi's. It's cute but the meaning of the glare is still there. "But Suigetsu nii-san, you shouldn't lie. Nii-san and I did no such thing!"

'Sure, that's what the blood licking was all about.'

"Sasuke."

The four siblings look up, two looking over their shoulders and the other two looking over theirs, to see a beautiful middle aged woman looking at them with so much love and compassion in her black eyes. With her long silky black hair, her fragile looking pale skin, her affectionate black eyes, and the gentle smile on her face, her beauty resembles that of an angel. Besides her is an elderly woman that's half of the angel's height, squinty eyes, a bruised looking nose, her hair sticking up, and a cat ear headband on the top of her head. She looks more like a cat than anything else.

"Mama…Granny Cat," Sasuke calls, acknowledging their presence.

The whole Uchiha family is standing in a small clearing, protected by the tall trees all around them. It's a nice grassy area with comforting sunshine, gentle flowers, and strong trees. Not too far from the family is a stream flowing south but that stream is several yards away. Still, the area is beautiful and this is where Sasuke will depart from his family to Konoha.

His mother, Mikoto opens her arms to him and says, "Sasuke, come here."

Sasuke turns to Itachi and says, "Nii-san, you can put me down now. I can walk." Itachi's grin came back as he looks at his little brother.

"You're still tired from running so much." Then he starts walking towards his mom with Sasuke still in his arms.

"Nii-san! Put me down!" He tries to struggle out of his big brother's hold but he's got a good hold on him. It made Sasuke upset until he was passed into his mother's arms. He looks up at her and she holds him tightly but gently against her warm body.

"My little baby is going away. I know that you will learn great things and become a fine shinobi like your father."

"But mama-"

Cough

He looks behind him and he sees Itachi smiling at him again. Oh course he coughed. He didn't want to start this up again. Sasuke is just stubborn but since his nii-san wants him to drop it, he does.

Sasuke can feel his mother pulling him closer to her and she whispers, "I'll miss you, my little one. I love you, Sasuke."

"I love you too, mama," he responds, hugging her back and his small fists clenching the clothes on her body.

Then Granny Cat tells him, "Now remember to show respect to your teachers and to keep an open mind to new things and new information."

"Yes, Granny Cat."

Mikoto places Sasuke down on the ground and he walks over to the old woman so that he could hug her. "I'll miss you too. Tell Henka and Renka that too for me, okay?"

She smiles at the young boy in front of her and then pets his head as if he were a cat. "Will do, young Sasuke."

"Mother."

Mikoto looks up at her eldest son from his call and he asks her, "Where is Master Jiraiya? I would think he would be here since he is Sasuke's ride."

"Well, he's right here!" they hear a rather enthusiastic, loud voice scream from above. They look and they see a man falling from the sky and landing on the ground between them and the stream with a loud boom, almost the same sound a bomb makes once it explodes. Since it was closer to Sasuke and Granny Cat than anyone else, the boy's first reaction is letting go of his granny and running to Itachi.

"Aah! Nii-san!" he screams, running behind him and hiding. The older Uchiha looks unsurprised by the making of a crater that's now making its appearance after some of the dust begins to clear up. He does however, allow his eyes to follow Sasuke as he ran behind him and cling to his pants.

"Master Jiraiya doesn't like to be kept waiting, little man!"

The two of them look up at the crater and as the dust and dirt clear up even more, they begin to see the form of a man in the center of that crater. But then he jumps out of the hole and on the ground a few feet away from the edge. He appears to be the same age as Granny Cat, or maybe younger by a couple of years. But from his body structure, he could have the body of a well built thirty year old man with hard rock muscles all around. His skin is rather tan and he has long, bushy white hair. It's the kind of hair you would expect to see on Japanese paintings of demon lords or animal spirits. From how he's dressed, he's a sage and from what the Uchiha family knows that he loves to keep blabbering about, he's a told sage.

He gets into his enthusiastic character as he yells out, "I maybe a patient man but I will not wait for anyone! Especially when that person just so happens to be the honorable son of Uchiha Madara of the prophecy and is a good hour late! I may not look it but I have other things I would rather do!"

Then Sasuke comes out from behind his brother and asks in an innocent, adorable voice, "You mean spy on women in the bathroom while they're bathing and writing about it in your Icha Icha series that hardly anybody is interested in except porn lovers?"

The moment he says that, there becomes a long and dead silence. It was so silent that they all heard the birds chirping away at least ten trees away from them. Then Suigetsu bursts out laughing few seconds later.

"Aahahahaha!" he bellows, laying on his back and tears in his eyes. Sasuke looks at him confused as Itachi, Mikoto, Jiraiya, and Granny Cat are completely expressionless. Karin on the other hand has her hand covering her mouth, the other wrapped around her stomach, and tears in her eyes as well. "S…s…Sasuke o..outot-to! That was awesome! You hit the mark perfectly" Sasuke is still confused. The only thing he is certain of is that Suigetsu and Karin are laughing at what he said. That must not be good.

Then Suigetsu goes up to him and raises his hand up for a high five. "High five, my little brother. You did your older brother proud!"

Karin appears behind him and lets a few giggles escape before saying, "That was brilliant, Sasuke otouto!"

"You two…"

They didn't have to guess who that was. They tensed up, already feeling the icy glare stopping their laughter from continuing. They dared to look up at Itachi, terrified as they are while Sasuke looks up unaffected by his elder brother's wrathful eyes. Itachi is as scary as HELL. Enough said. That and he looks like the demon lord, coming out from the depths of hell to rein terror and mayhem on the world.

"I suggest you don't encourage this any further than you already have. I know Sasuke didn't make that analogy by himself."

'Actually I/he did,' the three of them think.

Nervously, Mikoto turns to Jiraiya and quickly says, "I am so sorry for what my son said. I know he doesn't mean it."

Jiraiya recovers and tells the nervous Lady Uchiha, "It's quite alright. I'm just surprised that a young boy of six would say something like that."

Mikoto looks back at her children – one of them turning into the devil, the two facing and fearing the devil, and the one observing – and she says, "I'm sure Itachi will take care of the influencers."

"As much as I would love to watch him do that, I'm afraid that I must take Sasuke to Konoha now. We're late enough as it is."

Hearing that causes Itachi's death glare to disappear and be replaced with wide, hurtful eyes. It even causes Sasuke's grip to tighten on his brother's clothing. Since they are distracted, it gives Suigetsu and Karin a bit of a breather for the time being. Mikoto looks sad but understanding as she nods her head at the toad sage.

"Of course."

Being approved, Jiraiya puts on a smile before turning to the side while biting his thumb till it bleeds and quickly making the hand signs. When he was done, he slams his hand to the ground and calls, "Kuchiyose no jutsu! The art of summoning!" Then a puff of smoke appears and it's big. When the smoke clears, a giant orange and blue spotted toad appears with big yellow eyes. Then it opens its mouth and sticks out its tongue so that it can lie on the ground. Happily, Jiraiya calls out, "All aboard for the Konoha village!" But gazing at the toad and its open mouth, it causes the whole Uchiha family to turn grey with uncertainly and dread. Especially Sasuke.

"Nii-san," he calls. "Why do I have to ride inside a toad? Why can't I ride on one of your crows? At least I know I won't be eaten."

Hearing that causes Jiraiya to nearly fall down. Did this kid just diss his fabulous toad?

Itachi tells his little brother, "I would if I could but then I would end up staying at Konoha and no one else in our family can control the crows. I don't want my little brother to be alone in that village but they asked for one son of Uchiha Madara and one son they're going to get." Sasuke looks up at him and he sees him smiling so warmly at him, like always. "I promise the toad isn't going to eat you."

Before the young Uchiha could argue about it, a pair of arms appears behind him and steals him away from Itachi. Everyone watches as Suigetsu begins to squeeze the life out of the little boy. "We're gonna miss ya, squirt! Don't forget about us, kay?"

"Ah… Suigestu nii-san!" Sasuke gasps. "I..can't…breathe!"

Bonk

Suigetsu got hit in the head by Karin's fist and stops squeezing Sasuke. The little boy looks up and Karin yells at her more stupid, older brother. "Stop trying to kill the kid, Suigetsu baka! What's the whole point of sending him to Konoha if you're gonna kill him?" But before Sasuke could thank her for saving his life, she picks him up and cuddles him to her as if he were a life size plushy doll. "You're so cute, Sasuke-kun! We really are going to miss you! Don't forget to write back to us, kay?" She says this with a baby voice and while rubbing her head against his. Now Sasuke is really starting to feel uncomfortable with all of this hugging and cuddling.

"N…Nii-san! Help me!" he finally yells. Then a dark aura fills the air. Karin didn't have to ask or even look behind her to know that Itachi is speaking with his eyes – 'Let him go, NOW Karin.'

Karin chuckles nervously when she stops the cuddling and she says, "How about we give you to mom now, huh?" Before he could answer, she quickly rushes to her mom and passes Sasuke to her. She holds on to Sasuke into another lovable hug but not as hard as her children's.

"Don't forget to write, okay Sasuke?" she asks.

He nods, finally being able to hug her back and not get crushed to death. "I promise, mama." Then the hold gets tighter. He thought too soon.

"Oh my little baby!" she cries, her hold getting tighter than Karin's and Suigetsu's.

"Mother, please." The broken, possibly dying Sasuke is pulled out of her arms and is now in the arms of his nii-san. "You're killing him."

Recomposing himself now that he's safe in Itachi's arms, Sasuke doesn't hesitate. He instantly hugs his brother. It took Itachi by surprise since it was sudden and then he hears Sasuke's small voice being muffled from his shirt, "I'll miss you most of all, nii-san. Thank you for everything." Sasuke couldn't help it when the tears began to gather in his eyes but at least he was able to not make a sound when they rolled down his face. Feeling the cold liquid on his shoulder and feeling how tightly his youngest brother is holding him, he hugs him back – lot gentler than all the other hugs and still so full of love and care.

Then Sasuke hears three words spoken very softly from Itachi's lips so that only he can hear. "I love you, Sasuke."

It sort of became a sort of surprise that Itachi said them. They have a close relationship but Sasuke never heard words of affection escape his nii-san's lips for anyone. Not even him, till now. To hear them made Sasuke very happy and allow a truly happy smile from the heart appear. Thinking that this is a secret between them both, he whispers with the same volume, "I love you too, nii-san."

He hears his brother chuckle. His arms wrap around him a little more and Sasuke can feel something pounding inside him. Something that unleashes waves of warmth and calm to pulse through his veins. It made his cheeks red but since he's already crying, no one else will be able to tell that he's blushing except for himself. "One day, you'll understand."

"Uh?"

Itachi looks at his younger brother's confused face and smiles. Sasuke truly is nothing else but adorable. He was so confused by his older brother's words that he didn't notice that he was in front of the toad he's supposed to be riding in until Itachi puts him inside of the mouth.

"I guess then I'll take the tongue," Jiraiya says, stepping on top of the toad's tongue as it lifts him up inside the mouth.

Quickly, Sasuke calls, "Nii-san! Will I…Will I see you again?"

Since the day they were told that Sasuke has to go to Konoha alone, having to leave his family, and become a hero they're not even sure will be needed, Itachi not once looked sad as Sasuke was crying his eyes out. He was always so supporting and only now after that question does the boy see the mask of sadness on his elder brother's face.

"I don't know."

Sasuke's eyes widen when he heard that and it felt like his heart just stopped. Then everything begins happening too fast.

Jiraiya waves at the Uchiha family and says, "See ya! I swear Sasuke will arrive in Konoha in one piece and alive!"

Mikoto smiles at him and says, "Oh, I believe that."

Suigetsu asks the old perverted toad sage, "You know how to get there right? I would hate for Sasuke otouto to be even more late because he got lost."

"You youngsters have no faith in my sense of direction. Of course I know where Konoha is! It's…" then he lost it. "It's…it's…"

Letting out a sigh, Itachi removes his eyes from his little brother for only a second to look at the old shinobi to say, "It's south by south by south," then he looks back Sasuke.

Jiraiya grumbles, "I knew that. Well then, say goodbye to the hero of prophecy."

Suigetsu waves at his little brother and says, "Bye-bye, Sasuke! Have fun in Konoha!"

Karin puts on her tough façade and yells, "You better write. Ya hear me?"

A sad yet happy smile appears on Mikoto's face as she tells her son, "We love you, Sasuke. Be good, okay?"

But Sasuke doesn't acknowledge any of them. His eyes have been on his nii-san since he answered his question. His little hands are already in fists and they're shaking. He doesn't want this.

Then Itachi smiles, giving him one last warm smile that he would give to no one else but him. Then the mouth begins to close, going to block his view from him, possibly forever. That's what broke him out of his trance.

"Nii-san!" he calls, reaching for him right when the mouth closes. As soon as the toad now holds both Jiraiya and Sasuke inside his mouth, the giant toad becomes smaller until it's the same size of any normal toad. Then it turns around and hops away to the stream. It jumps in and swims with the current. Everyone keeps their eyes on the toad till it disappears from sight. Or the others did but even when they started their conversation, Itachi was still staring at the stream and where he last saw the toad go before disappearing completely.

"And there he goes," Suigetsu grumbles, sounding completely bored. He lets out a sigh to then show that he's disappointed. "We all know that Itachi is the strongest of us all and now his mini-me is off to become even stronger. It almost makes me want to give up being a shinobi."

Mikoto tries to say, "Suigetsu honey, you must understand that we have no control over things like this. You are just as strong as your siblings. Just keep training hard and never give up." Granny Cat only watches. She will decide rather to take part in this conversation or not. So much like a cat.

"Mom, I know you're trying to be supporting but let's be real here. Itachi nii is on a whole other level and Sasuke otouto is the only one who can reach that level. Sometimes, I feel like I'm adopted."

"Well you certainly didn't inherit dad's charming good looks," Karin comments. "Or mom's."

"Neither did you," Suigetsu attacks back. "You were defiantly adopted since you don't even look remotely close to them. You're an unattractive little girl."

"What was that?"

"Why did he have to go alone?"

Hearing that, the three of them look at Itachi. All they see is his back but from how tight his fists are at his side, he's angry and ready to explode. He grits his teeth together to try and control himself as he asks again but more harshly, "Why did Sasuke have to go alone? He's only six years old for crying out loud."

"Itachi-kun," Mikoto calls in her comforting, loving motherly voice. "I know parting with him is harder on you than it is on us because I know how close you two are but you must understand that this must be done. They ask for Sasuke and so only he must go."

"But he's only a child!"

Before Itachi completely loses his cool on their mom, Suigetsu buts in saying, "Look, Itachi onii. We all know how deeply in love you are with Sasuke otouto but-"

He couldn't finish. A fist comes at him and aims right for his head. But thankful, his body can turn into water so when the fist attacked him, there was a splash and his head was demolished as the water lands on the ground. The thing was that the fist didn't come from Karin for once. It came from Itachi. It happened so fast. It was one moment, Itachi was facing the stream and the next he's in front of Suigetsu and he already attacked him by turning Suigetsu's head into nothing but water. That was entirely unexpected. Itachi is always so cool and collected. He would never lost his temper so easily or lose it at all. Sure he would get upset and irritated with Suigetsu's and Karin's behavior but he never get so angry that he would actually hit his younger brother. Karin, Mikoto, and Granny Cat have every right to have shocked and astounded expressions on their faces when they see Suigetsu's head splattered everywhere. After part of his head lands on the ground, it quickly moves on its own to the body and the head starts to form back.

"What was that for?" Suigetsu asks as soon as he got a mouth to talk with.

"Shut your mouth."

When Suigetsu got his eyes back, he wasn't angry anymore. In fact, his expression is now the same as the rest of his family's. The look on Itachi's face is an expression they never see him have, ever.

"You are really starting to annoy me, little brother."

Then he turns around and walks away, leaving his family to stand there and watch him walk back home.

When Itachi arrives alone, the first place he goes to instead of his bedroom is Sasuke's room. He opens the door to the empty room and sees it as nothing more than a depressing reminder that he was here. The twin size bed in the corner across from the door was always too big for Sasuke but when he asked Itachi to stay with him, it became the perfect size for the two of them. The sheets are white as well as the one pillow cover but the comforter is blue, his favorite color. Across from the bed on the other side of the room is a book shelf all in perfectly neat order and color coded and alphabetical order. Sasuke is usually so messy but Mikoto made him clean his room before he had to leave and when he decides to clean, he cleans. Next to that book shelf and a few ways over, is a dust free, gleaming oak desk with its notebooks piled together in one corner, pencils and pens lined up, and a stack of paper besides it. Only when he's going to clean is Sasuke a neat freak. The other times, he can be such a slob.

Besides the door, on Itachi's right side is a counter with a fire lamp and a picture on top. He closes the door behind him and he picks up the picture. Unlike the family picture and the picture of just the two of them he put in the locket, this one is another family one that they all took on Sasuke's fifth birthday. Itachi really doesn't like cameras so this picture, and the locket pictures, are really special. The people of Konoha told him that all Sasuke needed were the clothes on his back and anything else he can carry on himself. They're going to supply whatever it is he needs there. So he couldn't take this picture and Itachi made him that locket, even though the picture he's holding now is Sasuke's absolute favorite.

It was probably the only picture that Suigetsu and Karin were in at the same time and they weren't glaring at each other. It was after a slight cake fight that helped lighten the mood for this picture. Of course Karin started it and Suigetsu responded. Soon Sasuke got in it and Itachi was caught in the fire of it all. All but Itachi, of course, started laughing and at the end of it and Mikoto took that chance to get a camera. While the mood was still good, she took a picture and they pose for it. Sasuke was sitting on Itachi's shoulders with his little arms hugging his head. Itachi had an eye closed and his open eye was looking up at his youngest brother from the hug. Suigetsu on one side of Itachi and Karin on the other. Suigetsu and Karin were both smiling happily while both giving the camera the peace sign. They were all covered in cake and frosting, Sasuke having the most frosting on his face and clothes, Karin and Suigetsu having it all in their faces and some on their hair, and Itachi then had frosting as a new hair accessory. He wasn't smiling in the picture but Sasuke was and his smile is the brightest of them all. He had a tooth missing from training but that was okay. He was still adorable then as he is now.

"Nii-san!"

He can still hear his little voice calling for him. Rather it would be helping him train, play with him, read him a story, carry him, or sleep with him. He would always call for him with that absolutely adorable, pitchy high voice that turns you into goo the moment you hear it. But now that he's gone, Itachi will probably never hear it calling for him again. The house will be empty. There will be no life with him gone. Itachi's world is going to end. A bit over dramatic for him but that's how it feels and that is what he predicts will happen.

"Sasuke…"

Then a water drop lands on the picture glass. It was only one for a moment and then several begin to fall from Itachi's chin after rolling down his face like waterfalls. That was why his family was so shocked when they saw his expression. They saw the tears building up in his eyes and they saw how truly heartbroken he is. For as long as they can possibly remember, they have never seen Itachi cry. Even when he was in Otogakure, he didn't cry. He had to be strong for his father and his family so his tears dried up and his heart became stone. Then Sasuke was born after the terror was over and light appeared in Itachi's dark heart.

Sasuke was more precious to him than anybody can ever realize. That time in the forest when Orochimaru and Kabuto appear, it took everything Itachi had to not destroy those men when they appeared before him. It would have been so easily but then he would have Sasuke seeing something he really shouldn't. He's so pure and innocent, so guileless. A fight like that would make him fear Itachi and he would rather die than have that. They say you never truly know how precious someone is until you lose them. Itachi always knew how precious he was but he never knew the separation would be this bad. He can't even stand anymore. His legs become weak with grief as he collapses to the ground and the tears continue to fall.

"Sasuke…

I told you it was sad but this means that Itachi is not taking Sasuke's departure very well at all. Goes to show how close they really were to each other.

But how was it? Bad? Good? Please, please, please let me know! Till next time!