A/N: I am terribly sorry about not updating in… freaking ages. I don't really have any excuses, forgive me.

ITACHI, EARLY AFTERNOON

The rainwater had slackened his hair against his neck.

Itachi was standing with his back against a lush oak tree. His arms were crossed and eyes closed. Around him, rain was falling heavily, but Itachi was relatively safe from it under his tree. The man was still and looked peaceful, as if he was just sleepily waiting for the rain to pass. A perfect image of complete serenity with nothing to interru-

THWACK!

"HEEY! I DID IT, CREEPY-EYES! TAKE THAT, NOW YOU GOTTA TEACH ME SOMETHING ELSE!"

Itachi lazily opened his eyes (which, some childish part of him would have liked to protest, were not creepy) and gazed over to the clearing where Naruto was practicing his aim with kunai. The boy had been practicing hitting four targets at the same time. Itachi saw that, after a week of solid non-stop swearing, Naruto had finally managed to concentrate enough to hit all four dead-center at the exact same time.

"Good work. Would you now like to learn to hit eight at the same time?" Itachi asked despite knowing what answer he would get.

"Hell no! That was damn hard enough! I never wanna do target practice again!" Naruto roared. To emphasize his point, he used a quick jutsu that sent out a sharp gust of wind at the target boards they had been using. They were all smashed into bits.

"Don't take your frustration out on the innocent targets. Weren't you the one who came to me yourself, asking me to teach you this?"

"Well yeah, but that was just because I couldn't let Sasuke-teme get ahead of me, and he was learning this technique so I had to!" Naruto practically bounced as he spoke, acting like the reasons for his actions were totally obvious and Itachi was just pretending to not understand.

Itachi wondered, not for the first time, if having rivals did something to your brain. Despite the fact that Naruto had actually matured quite a bit from the rash, excitable boy Itachi remembered from Sasuke's Academy graduation ceremony, his IQ still dropped by several points whenever his rivalry with Sasuke came up in a conversation. And goodness knows, I'm not sure he can afford to lose any, Itachi thought.

"Well, I think right now you should take a break", Itachi suggested in a tone that left no room to argue, "Come sit over here. Standing in that rain is not good for your health." Naruto sullenly obeyed.

"Would you like some snacks?" Itachi asked despite knowing what answer he would get.

"Nah. All you ever have is sweet stuff. Isn't that supposed to be bad for your health, anyway?" Naruto asked, rummaging through his backpack, which had been lying on the grass next to Itachi.

"No more so than those." He was looking at a bag of potato chips the blond had taken out. "Also, unlike you, I eat proper meals during mealtimes, not just cup ramen."

"I don't eat ramen for every meal, y'know! I just like having it sometimes!" Naruto shouted at the Uchiha, tearing his bag of chips open with a little more force than necessary. He sat down on the moist grass and began stuffing himself. Itachi fished a box of chocolate raisins out his pocket and opened it.

For a moment, they just ate silently, but the Uchiha could tell that Naruto actually wanted to tell him something. He had first noticed it in the morning. The boy would open his mouth to say something and then stop himself, and he had actually hesitated before starting practice (which was practically unheard of, because the brat was always full of energy and wanted to train constantly).

Right now he was subtly peering up at him and turning back towards his chips, turning back to look at him and going back to eating. Itachi wanted to tell him to spit it out already, but decided against it. Naruto would have to get it out himself.

After a few more chips, he finally did.

"Hey, um…" Naruto started, "Did- ehh… Did you and Sasuke fight about something? Last night?"

Itachi kept his tone as neutral as he could. "Possibly."

"Ah. I- I mean, I don't wanna intrude, it's just that he was really pissed this morning an' said you'd cancelled our training with Kakashi-sensei…"

"Yes, I did, but I wasn't aware that he had promised to train you as well. I'm sorry, I'll ask Kakashi to train you alone-" Naruto put up his palm to stop him.

"Nah, I don't wanna do it if Sasuke's not coming. I mean, he'd be super angry if I trained ahead while he can't." Naruto explained.

In spite of his concerns for Naruto's intelligence, Itachi had to admire the boy's strange devotion to his brother and their rivalry. This was not the first time the teen had refused to accept things like this because Sasuke could not do it. Apparently Naruto thought it was "unfair to their rivalry" if he used the time when Sasuke was incapacitated to get ahead of him. He had even gone so far this time around as to spend his time studying Itachi's kunai techniques, which definitely didn't suit him, just because it was the only new form of training Itachi had allowed his brother since his mistake.

Somehow I doubt that Sasuke would refuse extra training if he was put in the same position.

"I just don't really get it why you're being so hard on him, I guess…" Naruto muttered warily, testing the waters to see if Itachi would get angry. Looks like he has a lot more to get off his chest than he wants to let on.

"I mean, all he did was try to do some stupid stunt…"

"Sasuke's attempt to go into Konoha is not only a violation of our community's rules, but also a display of how poor his teamwork skills are. Trying to do everything all by yourself will only lead to disaster." There's a lesson I wish I had learned without having to experience it. Itachi suppressed a shiver. It was getting cold, and if the weather would not clear up, they would need to go back inside. Starting a fire was not an option this close to the village.

Naruto tried to argue back. "Yeah, but teme was just pissed… I think he woulda realized himself he was being stupid and come back. I mean, if he'd actually got all the way to Konoha, then he would have realized."

"I doubt it." I'm quite certain he would not have.

"You can't know that. Besides, he's been ranting all this time about the council being lazy, and… Y'know. I mean… isn't it kinda bad that it's been four years and we've done nothin' against the Hyuuga?" Naruto gazed up at him, worried that he might become angry.

Itachi sighed. "We are not strong enough." And it's not just the Hyuuga that we are up against.

"We would be wiped out completely if we attacked without a plan. The village would fall into their hands for good, and we would be buried as traitors." And Danzo would also laugh his head off, that is, if he is capable of showing emotion. "They want us to attack now, so that we can be destroyed." And Danzo can add mine and Sasuke's eyes to his collection.

Naruto put his chips down, crossed his arms, and rested his chin on his knees. "I know all of that. I get it. I know the council's right. But I wanna go back to Konoha. I wanna go see all of those places, visit my home, and see Sakura too. And I know Sasuke wants to do that stuff even more than me, 'cause he had it better in the village than me. I like the rebel community, even if it's in a stuffy underground place, because everyone is pretty nice to me here. Certainly nicer than the folk were in Konoha. But Sasuke doesn't notice people being nice to him. They were always nice to him. So to him, this place an' the people are a lot worse than Konoha and his life there."

"I know. But the life Sasuke wants back is not there anymore. Our parents are dead and our home is destroyed." I'm sorry. "He is spending his time obsessing over things he cannot get back no matter what." Itachi sat down next to the boy.

"Sasuke needs to be stopped before he becomes obsessed with revenge, or it will destroy him. That's why I've been trying to force him to spend his time indoors, with people, to realize that he is not alone. But I can't get through to him anymore, and he keeps rejecting other people as well." The Uchiha straightened his ponytail a little.

"I will do it!"

Naruto's face was suddenly full of eagerness. "Pardon?" Itachi asked, surprised.

"I will get through to him! I swear! I will force teme to realize that he is not alone, and get him to stop whining about the past. I promise that right now, and I never go back on my word! That is my nindo!" Naruto boomed, standing up and punching one fist through the air. Itachi imagined Might Guy would have been proud of this display of enthusiasm had he been there to see it.

He couldn't share the boy's excitement, though. Sasuke was not at all the sort of a person that could easily be swayed by other people, and Naruto's confrontational ways were probably not the best way to appeal to him.

Nevertheless, he felt… relieved. He'd watched Sasuke distance himself from everyone, including himself, for years now, and had always felt alone with his responsibility for him. Four years ago, Sasuke had relied on Itachi very much, and always eagerly asked him to tell him what had happened in the week's council meetings, what kind of information their spies had brought, and what plans they had. But as the months and eventually years passed, and Itachi had to disappoint him every week, Sasuke had turned sullen and angry, and less and less understanding. By now, the boy seemed to hold Itachi personally accountable for the council's failure to attack the Hyuuga.

Itachi certainly did deserve his blame and anger for several other things, but not this. The simple, plain and obvious truth was that the rebel community's strength was only a fraction of that of the combined power of the Hyuuga, Root, and the other Hyuuga-minded or neutral ninja in the village. And if rebels' plans were not absolutely perfect when they finally would strike, they really would be crushed entirely.

And Sasuke just refused to see it.

Naruto's voice brought Itachi back to the present. "Whaddaya say? Can we work together to make sure Sasuke calms down?" Naruto's eyes were so eager they damn nearly sparkled.

Itachi couldn't help but smile. "I would love to, but he has been so angry with me recently that the idea of us collaborating would probably turn him against you. I think it would be best if you acted alone without letting him know that we've spoken at all."

"Cool! So we'll work together in secret, like ninjas!"

We ARE ninjas. Please don't tell me you forgot that just now.

-exile-

A/N: As I said, I'm really sorry about the delay. Please leave a comment, even just a little one.