As you can see I'm in a bit of a Naruto craze... I'm taking advantage of it. Possibly because of the dismal ending we where handed but I'm not bitter...

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

There will me M/M in this fanfiction. Not between Sasuke and Itachi...well not too much. More like over protective brotherly with that slight sprinkle of could it be incest? Just like in canon.

That evening, Sasuke took his team to meet with the Hokage. Kakashi offered to keep an eye on Itachi. Sasuke was more than willing for an excuse to get away from Itachi for awhile so he jumped on the offer. Kakashi noted how cold the house was when he walked in. A staleness hung in the air. The ghosts of the past seemed to haunt the place. Itachi was hidden away in his room. Kakashi lightly knocked on the door and a moment later, Itachi opened it and peered out at him; the bruises on his face were fierce. At the sight of Kakashi, Itachi averted his gaze.

"Kakashi-Senpai." He greeted softly. The copy nin nodded. He took in the sorry state of the boy as he forced himself to remember what this doll faced boy had done. Yet Kakashi was not a malicious person.

"Yo." He held up a bag of with salve in it. "I come bearing gifts." At this Itachi smiled slightly and hesitantly stepped from his room.

"Sasuke is allowing it?"

"Sasuke's not here to stop me." The older nin shrugged and Itachi fought down a laugh.

"Thank you." He murmured. Kakashi led Itachi to the kitchen and ushered him to sit. He took Itachi's damaged wrist and looked it over before reaching into his bag and grabbing some gauze. While he wrapped it, Itachi watched him. he took in the slight differences in the copy nin's appearance. He was no longer ANBU...being a Sensei suited him.

"You've been very kind to me...despite what I've done." He mused and Kakashi stilled but did not look up from Itachi's hand.

"So, Sasuke told you." He stated casually.

It was not a question.

"He told me enough." Itachi replied. Kakashi moved to the bruises on Itachi's face. Itachi focused on a point over Kakashi's shoulder as the nin's fingers worked the salve Sakura had given him on the worst of the bruising. "Did I say anything to you? I...before I did it?" Itachi suddenly asked feeling foolish. Kakashi looked away and began rummaging through his bag and Itachi closed his eyes in disappointment. Several moments later the Copy nin brushed a thumb over Itachi's bruised brow.

"You kissed me goodbye." He whispered, voice taking on a tone he rarely used. "I hadn't realized it at the time...not until after the massacre." Itachi flinched at this and Kakashi pulled away as if burned.

"I'm sorry." Itachi managed, but Kakashi would not look at him. He stood suddenly, walking towards the window while Itachi stared after him. The man stared out the musty window for a long moment. He could feel the Uchiha watching him.

"I thought I knew you," Kakashi mused in that same soft tone. "I never thought you were capable of...this." He indicated to the dead house.

"Neither did I." Itachi stared down at his hands. Kakashi shot Itachi a look of disdain, anger rising in his chest as he stared at the murderer. This boy was not what he appeared to be. Those lips he had kissed were the same lips that directed cruelty at Sasuke. Those small hands were the same hands that destroyed Sasuke's life and ultimately drove him to betrayal.

"You knew it Itachi. It's in you somewhere." He replied coldly. Itachi turned his head away, unable to look at the man. His words hurt but itachi knew he deserved them. Kakashi cast Itachi a final cool glare before he walked away from the window and opened the door. For a moment he hesitated, as if he wanted to say something more but instead he shook his head and was gone.

Karin, Juugo and Suigestu were each given their own house in the Uchiha district to stay. Sasuke had mulled over taking another home but settled with staying at his parent's to make sure Itachi was kept under like dead parents to force a sociopath into submission. Sasuke met Kakashi sitting on the porch watching the stars. The two greeted each other with nods and Kakashi watched Sasuke enter the house. Sasuke headed for his old room, bypassing Itachi's without a glance. He threw himself upon his bed, and a layer of dust puffed into the pair. He turned onto his back, deciding that he would clean it later. Sasuke glanced out the window and stared at the moon.

Tsunade expressed interest in checking Itachi over and the elders were very much interested in meeting him. Danzō in particular was voicing his intention. The look of disgust he had shot Sasuke had left a cold feeling in his chest. Something abut that old man was not right. People like him should not be in power. Sasuke turned onto his side and closed his eyes trying to sleep. Instead is parent's faces plagued his every thought and their murderer continued to breathe just down the hall...

The next morning, Sasuke woke up late. He sat up and scowled at nothing in particular. When he heard movement, he slowly got from his bed and opened his door. He quickly noticed that the layer of dust on the floor was gone. Frowning, Sasuke padded down the hall and was surprised to find Naruto and Itachi cleaning the windows. Naruto turned and waggled his eyebrows at Sasuke while Itachi continued to clean without looking at the Uchiha.

"What are you doing Dobe?" Sasuke asked and Naruto tossed the rag away grinning.

"I came by to drag you out of here but found Itachi cleaning the place up. I decided to help him." Sasuke glanced to Itachi who slowly turned to look at him, face devoid of emotion.

"That's really not necessary Naruto."

"You were just commenting last night that the place was stuffy." Naruto shrugged. Sasuke glanced at the floor, noting that the bloodstain had not been touched. He turned a glare towards Itachi who tilted his head quietly.

"The elders and Danzō have demanded your presence." Sasuke informed his sibling casually, glancing towards the window and missing how Itachi's fingers had tightened on the rag he was holding. "Tsunade thinks it's a good idea to appease them so that is exactly what you will do. I have not been told when this meeting will occur but when it does you will come to me with everything you spoke of."

"The elders?" Naruto questioned in surprise. "I'm surprised they haven't made a scene yet."

"They want to avoid the public from knowing we have a mass murdering psychopath in the village." Sasuke stated, staring at Itachi as he said this. "In fact I would like to forget it too." Itachi's throat tightened as he fought down a retort.

"Sakura has been asking about you," Naruto stated suddenly changing the subject. Sasuke shot Naruto an unimpressed glare. "She was hoping you would want to meet up." Sasuke did not seem interested but his finally relented and gave a curt nod.

"I suppose I can introduce my team to her and everyone else. They still don't know?"

"Tsunade told Might Guy. I don't think he'll go blab though." Naruto replied, offering Sasuke a slight smile.

"Hn...I'll grab Juugo and the others and we can meet you somewhere. I can't stay in this place for much longer." He looked around in disgust. Naruto nodded in understanding. He glanced at Itachi who had returned to cleaning.

"Will you be staying here long or are you gonna find another place?" Naruto asked and Sasuke slowly looked around the house.

"I don't know."

Naruto left a few minutes later, Sasuke telling him they would meet that night. This left just the siblings and the silence that followed was heavy. Sasuke looked around the room, face full of disdain.

"What are you trying to accomplish?" He suddenly asked and Itachi placed the rag down.

"I'm trying to cle-" Sasuke cut him off with a glare. His Sharingan activating in annoyance.

"Bullshit. I don't want you speaking to Naruto. He's too good to be around something like you." Sasuke snapped and Itachi's eyes narrowed.

"I'm not seeking him out Sasuke," He replied coldly. "He seems quite fine to make his own choices." Sasuke advanced on Itachi who stepped closer, chin lifted defiantly.

"You're walking on thin ice Itachi I would be careful if I were you." Sasuke warned and Itachi met him with an identical glare.

"I've been walking on thin ice since you brought me here otouto. Do you worst." The strike was quick but not unexpected and Itachi's mouth filled with blood. He wiped the side of his face with a little laugh. "How perfectly expected." He jeered, the blood on his chin shining in the dim lighting. Slowly his own Sharingan appeared and Sasuke's eyes widened as swung at Itachi who easily evaded his blow. Sasuke snarled. Itachi dodged another strike, a sneer curling his lips.

"Still can't keep up otouto? Such a shame!" He did not know why he was saying this, but it felt good. It felt good to laugh in the face of this cruel teenager who had taken over his otouto. It felt good to fight back for once! The momentary satisfaction however was quickly squashed as Sasuke managed to grab a hold of Itachi's hair and wrench him back. Itachi hit the floor violently and the air was knocked out of his lungs. His eyes closed as he tried to regain air and then a crackling noise came overhead, like birds chirping...he opened his eyes and was met with a bout of lighting, crackling from Sasuke's hand. He could barely hear Sasuke speak over it.

"I would kill you now..." Sasuke seethed. "It would prove to be so easy. But you don't deserve easy." The lightning began to crackle away. "You're going to suffer Itachi, and you're going to know why." The lightning faded completely as Sasuke stared coldly down at his sibling who blinked back with identical eyes. Sasuke wanted to rip them out...his fingers itched to do so. Instead he turned on his heel and walked slowly out of the house.

Itachi sat up, his breathing returning to normal. He stared at the door with narrowed eyes as he went over his options. Stay and continue to allow Sasuke to use him as a doormat, fight back and risk injury...or run. He had nothing holding him here...he apparently had already cut ties... yet there were eyes on him at all times...he could easily take down anyone who tried to stop him...but still even with Sasuke older than him the thought of leaving the teen left Itachi feeling ill. How could he have killed his entire family when the thought of leaving Sasuke was so painful?

The meeting with the elders went as awkwardly as could be expected. They wanted to be sure Itachi retained no memories of his adult life. Sasuke and Kakashi had accompanied Itachi to the meeting. Itachi wondered if he should mention what he did remember. About a week ago he and Shisui had been summoned by the elders. Last he recalled he had just been told to spy on his clan. The clan had been muttering about Konoha in general. Shisui and Itachi had seen the danger in some of their comments. He wondered how the spying had gone. He and Shisui expected that the peace talks would be underway soon. They had to have gone over well with hoe upset the elders were with the massacre. Had Itachi turned on the village? Was he truly so power hungry? By their order, they had spied yet they gave no indication to giving such an order. Although Danzō's beady eyes remained locked on Itachi during the entire meeting. Itachi wondered if the old man would bring up anything at all but he was oddly silent throughout it all. He answered their questions with a straight face and Danzō watched him intently. Finally, Sasuke and Kakashi were dismissed. Sasuke was reluctant to go but Danzō's hard stare had him walking. Once the door was closed, Danzō began to speak.

"Do you recall my order?" He asked and Itachi nodded.

"Yes, Danzō-San."

"It was to spy on your clan correct?"

"Yes."

"There was...nothing else correct?" One elder asked and Itachi shook his head, staring at Danzō.

"Nothing sir."

The elders shared dubious glances. Danzō smiled.

"I assume your sibling gave you no further information so I will fill you in. The peace talks were a success but at some point you had...turned on your clan as well as your village," Itachi stared. "Your clan and the elders sent Shisui Uchiha to confront you on your actions and you killed him, stealing his eyes." He gave Itachi a cold glare and the boy fought down the nausea in his stomach. What had he done? "During the night you for reasons unknown killed your entire clan save your brother and vanished. Years later it was discovered you had joined a terrorist organization called the Akatsuki. You were still among their ranks when you battled Sasuke six days ago."

Itachi felt these words sink in...

He was a traitor...

He was a murderer...

He was a monster...

He had done the very thing he had hoped to stop his clan from possibly doing...He listened to Danzō as the man discussed weekly meetings with him privately. He did not even feel the normal chill that went through him when the man spoke to him.

'I don't like how he looks at you,' Shisui had muttered as they walked by the river. 'It's like he's laughing at some joke only he knows...'

When Itachi met Danzō's eyes, he knew in his heart that Danzō knew more than he admitted.

Much more.

I'm trying to get these out quickly! Thanks again for all the support! ItachiPacifist I would love to speak to you if at all possible! If you could private message me that would be great! For my guest asking if it would be M/M, it will be but will certainly not be a focus at all! The Sasuke/Itachi relationship will be brotherly, so no worries!

Sandsibscrazy, SeiraMili12, LemonCake11, boneheart, thank you so much for your comments!