This chapter contains the truth about the Uchiha Massacre, which I doubt is a spoiler for anyone anymore, but I'm warning you just in case.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
"Itachi'll be OK, won't he?" he asked her, meaning their son. She nodded.
"Yes, he'll probably be waking up soon," she answered him. He smiled.
"Good. When I saw him... all that blood..." Sakura put a finger on his lips.
"Shh. Stop worrying." Sasuke's strong arms wound round her waist and held her tightly. "Get some sleep. Mikoto and Tani are with him," she whispered, pulling a blanket over him. His breathing slowed as he succumbed to sleep.
Chapter 4 – The Truth
In Itachi's room, there was a moan and the boy opened his eyes. It took him a few seconds to work out where he was. He was in his bed – how did he get there?
"You're awake, huh?" Mikoto asked, noticing that his eyes had opened. He nodded and felt something squeeze his hand. Looking down, he saw Tani's smiling face.
"Daddy was really worried," she said. "And so was I." He grinned and squeezed her hand back.
"Where are Mum and Dad?" he asked.
"They went to bed. Dad was really shaken up by meeting our uncle," Mikoto explained. "Mum wanted to make sure he got some rest."
"Is that man really our uncle?" Tani asked. Her elder siblings nodded.
"He's five years older than Dad," Itachi said. "His name's Uchiha Itachi." Tani looked confused.
"But that's your name, Itachi," she pointed out. Mikoto intervened.
"He was named after him, and I was named after our grandmother according to Naruto," she said. Her siblings stared at her.
"Who was I named after?" Tani asked.
"No-one. You're unique!" The young girl grinned and stuck her tongue out at Itachi, who was mock-glaring at her. The three of them laughed, and then tensed as someone knocked on the front door.
"I'll get it," Mikoto said as Itachi attempted to get up. "You stay still." Activating her Sharingan, she sped to answer the door. When she saw who it was, she glared and deactivated her kekkei genkai.
"You're jumpy," Naruto commented.
"If someone knocked on your door in the middle of the night and you weren't expecting anybody wouldn't you be?" she challenged. He chuckled.
"Can we come in?" he asked, gesturing at himself and his companions, namely Suigetsu, Hisuke, Hotaru and Itachi. She nodded and stepped back.
"Where are your parents?" Naruto asked. She shrugged.
"Asleep."
"How's Ita-kun?" Hotaru asked.
"Fine – he came round just now."
"Can I see him?"
"No."
Hotaru scowled.
"Mikoto, I am well aware that you'd like nothing better than to be with him right now – surely we can come too?" Naruto reasoned. She sighed.
"I suppose," she said and dashed up the stairs.
"Who was it?" Tani asked, still holding her brother's hand.
"Naruto, Suigetsu, Hisuke, Hotaru and our uncle," Mikoto said. "And they're coming up to see you, Itachi," she added.
"Can I sit up then?" he asked.
"No."
"Come on, sis, I'm fine!" he protested.
"No means no, Itachi," she told him. Naruto laughed. He was standing in the doorway.
"It won't do any harm, Mikoto," he reasoned. "Give him some dignity." Mikoto glared and stubbornly shook her head.
"If Mum had heard you say that..." she trailed off. It wasn't as though she needed to finish the sentence. Naruto winced.
"I'd be in considerable pain right now," he said. "And I'm not going to push my luck because all three of you have inherited her perfect Chakra control so you're just as capable as she is." Mikoto grinned triumphantly.
"Haven't you heard the phrase 'Uchihas are never wrong'?" Itachi (the older one) inquired. Naruto scowled.
"Sasuke's told me that enough times," he muttered. "It's annoying, but not always true. I've proved him wrong a few times." Tani glared.
"Don't talk about Daddy like that!" she snapped. Naruto gulped.
"Sorry," he said hastily. "How are you feeling, Itachi?" The young Uchiha shrugged.
"I've been worse," he said truthfully. "But I've also been a lot better." Naruto scowled at him.
"Stop being so darn clever," he sulked. All the Uchihas laughed.
"Are you sure that you're OK, Ita-kun?" Hotaru asked. He nodded.
"I'm fine."
"Which is why your sister's not even letting you sit up," Hisuke commented. That earned him and Uchiha glare which, as usual, had no effect on him.
"If you've just come here to taunt me, go away," Itachi told him. "I'm not in the mood." To back him up, Mikoto and Tani glared at the boy as well; this did unnerve him.
"How come Daddy never mentioned you?" Tani asked her uncle suddenly. He looked uncomfortable.
"Let's just say that we didn't get on very well," he replied.
"Let's just explain everything in full and not patronise the little girlie," Tani snapped. Her older siblings shared a glance. Only they could talk down to their little sister and they knew it. Their uncle sighed and looked really uncomfortable.
"You've definitely got your father's attitude," he commented. "Well, to cut a long story short..."
"I said in full," Tani interrupted. "We have plenty of time."
"OK," her uncle said. "In full. Does that mean I have to go right back to the founding of this village?"
"If it's relevant."
"OK. When this village was founded, there were two major clans – the Uchiha and the Senju. They were the most powerful of all the clans so they were rivals. When they made a truce and formed the Village Hidden in the Leaves, one person needed to become the leader, now known as the Hokage. The leader of the Senju clan, Hashirama, was chosen, lessening our clan's status and humiliating our clan leader, Madara, and causing him to turn traitor. He fought Hashirama and was defeated and supposedly killed. Because of his actions, suspicion was sent our way and we were looked down upon. The Second Hokage, Tobirama, was somewhat more lenient, giving us the position of being the village's police force, which we did for years... Anyway, 37 years ago, the nine-tailed fox attacked the village. It was defeated by the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, but suspicion for the attack landed on the Uchiha clan as our Sharingan was – and is – the only thing that can control the most powerful of all the tailed beasts. We were forced to live in a corner of the village where the ANBU Black Ops could keep an eye on us. Our clan didn't take lightly to this discrimination and so, when I was accepted into the ANBU Black Ops at 10, they started to plot an uprising. I'm ashamed to admit it, but while the clan used me as a spy for them, I was actually a double-agent, working for the Hokage and giving him information on the clan. When he heard about the uprising, he and his advisors gave me a very important mission. If things had continued as they were, there would have been a civil war. The only way to avoid it was for the Uchiha clan to be wiped out so my mission was to kill everyone." Itachi paused and glanced at his nieces and nephew. They were listening intently.
"And..." Mikoto prodded when he didn't continue.
"I did it. My clan was already suspicious of me, even Sasuke was slightly confused, and he was only seven. One night, when Sasuke was late home from the academy, I tracked down Madara, who I had realised was still alive, and offered him revenge on the clan that he felt betrayed him when they hadn't backed him up all those years ago. But in return, he had to promise not to attack the rest of the village. He agreed, and so we attacked and slaughtered the clan. He did most of it, although he couldn't handle the entire clan by himself. By the time Sasuke got home from the academy, there were only three members of the clan still alive: him, myself and Madara. It wasn't long before he realised something was wrong, and then he saw all the bodies. He then realised that our parents were in danger and so ran home as fast as he could. I remember waiting for him in our parent's room, by the bodies of our parents, listening to him shouting for them. I'd told him that morning that I was going to be on an important mission, so he wasn't worried about me. When he finally reached the room I was in, the first thing he saw was our parent's bodies. It was hard to listen to him asking me who had done it and why. I used my Mangekyo Sharingan to show him the death of our clan. It was horrible, listening to his fear as he realised that I had done it – he thought that I would kill him without a second thought too, so he ran away. I was faster though, and soon overtook him. I told him to run, I knew by then that I couldn't kill him, but he didn't. He fought me instead and I saw his Sharingan awaken, although he didn't realise that it was active. I overpowered him easily and then fled; I needed to talk to the Hokage immediately. I told the Hokage and his advisors that I wouldn't let them harm Sasuke – if they did I'd tell the village the truth about why I killed the clan. I also asked them not to tell Sasuke the truth; I didn't want his memories of our clan to be tainted by anything. I left the village and joined a criminal organisation called 'Akatsuki'." He looked at his brother's children again. They were all deep in thought. He felt guilty about telling them the truth, but they had demanded it.
"So Dad hates you for killing our clan because he doesn't know the truth," Itachi summarised. His uncle nodded.
"Why couldn't you kill Dad?" Mikoto asked out of curiosity.
"I don't know. I suppose it's because, despite appearances, he was the person I loved the most. What I told him when he asked me why I'd done it – that it was to test my limits – was partially true. I could kill my parents, my girlfriend and my best friend, but not my little brother."
"If you really loved me that much, why did you kill the people I cared about the most?" Sasuke asked from the doorway. His brother turned around with inhuman speed.
"How long have you been there?" he asked. Sasuke grinned.
"I arrived just as Tani told you off for patronising her. Now answer the question."
Itachi sighed.
"If I hadn't there would have been a civil war. I grew up during a war and it was hell. I didn't want you to grow up during a war too."
Sasuke looked down.
"But everyone? Mother? Auntie? They were all involved?" he asked sadly.
"Father was the ringleader so he forced them to participate. He forced me to as well."
Sasuke looked at his brother in silence. Mikoto stood and walked over to him.
"Sit down, Dad," she said. He just let her guide him over to a chair in silence.
"Sasuke..." Itachi started. His brother shook his head.
"Dad..." the teenager in the bed said, sitting up. Mikoto glared at him but he ignored her. Naruto, Suigetsu, Hisuke and Hotaru backed out of the room, leaving the clan together.
"Sasuke," his brother said, walking over to him. Sasuke looked up and his family could see the tears running down his face.
"Don't cry, Daddy," Tani said, hugging him. He returned the embrace but did nothing to stop the flow of tears.
"Itachi, you should be lying down," Mikoto scolded, glaring at her brother. Sasuke looked at his son and frowned.
"Your mother will be furious if you don't lie down," he commented.
"Too right she will," Sakura said from the doorway. Itachi gulped and lay down quickly – but not too quickly. "What's wrong, Sasuke?" Sasuke shook his head and buried his face in his youngest daughter's long, blue-black hair. Sakura glared at her brother-in-law who nervously backed up, remembering both how painful Itachi's kick had been and Naruto commenting that the three young Uchihas had got their strength from their mother.
"Mum, leave it," Mikoto said. "I think everyone will be much happier after some sleep." Her mother smiled at her assertive behaviour and took hold of Sasuke's arm, gently tugging him towards their bedroom. He gently untangled Tani's arms from around him and followed his wife.
"You go too, Tani," Mikoto said. Her sister shook her head.
"I'm not tired!" she protested before yawning. Mikoto laughed.
"Nice try, now bed."
Tani grumbled but couldn't change her sister's mind so she left the room.
"Bed means bed, not sitting outside the door!" Mikoto called after her. Tani stuck her tongue out and bounced off to her bedroom.
"I notice that you're not going to bed," Itachi commented a few minutes later (the older one – the younger one had fallen asleep). Mikoto shrugged.
"Mum and Dad were wound up, Tani's too young to stay up all night and Itachi's injured," she said. "Otherwise I wouldn't have sent any of them to bed. I'm none of those so it's perfectly within my rights to stay here all night."
Her uncle chuckled.
"So what am I classed as?" he asked. She shrugged.
"I don't really know you so I can't judge," she said.
"True," Itachi said. "I notice that you're not bothered that I killed our clan, unlike everyone else."
"You did it because there wasn't any choice. It was a lose-lose situation so I can't blame you. You'll probably find that I'm not the only one who thinks like that. Mum won't, and I doubt Itachi or Tani do either."
Itachi nodded, relieved that his whole family didn't hate him for what he did.
"You seem very sensible," he commented. "I'm guessing you got that from your mother, knowing what I do about Sasuke." Mikoto giggled. "But it's not hard for me to see what your father was thinking when he named you," he added. Mikoto looked at him curiously. "Apart from the fact you have emerald eyes, not onyx, you look just like our mother," he told her. She stared at him. "Here." He held out a photograph. She took it and inspected it. It was of four people. There was a man that had the same colour hair as her uncle; a woman that looked scarily like an older version of her; a young boy, about nine, who had dark, almost black hair which was tied in a low ponytail – he looked remarkably like the man in front of her; and finally a young boy of about four with blue-black hair which spiked up like her father's did.
"This photo was taken just after I passed the Chuunin exam," her uncle explained. "The man is my father, Uchiha Fugaku; the woman is my mother, Uchiha Mikoto; that's me; and that's your father," he said, pointing out each person as he named them.
"Dad looks like Itachi did when he was that age," Mikoto commented. "Except the eyes."
Her uncle chuckled.
"That's how I recognised him as my nephew the moment I saw him," he said. "They look so alike." He grinned. "I must say, I'm pleased that none of you inherited your mother's pink hair. I don't mind the green eyes, but I wouldn't be able to stand it if you had pink hair!"
Mikoto grinned.
"Mum and Dad were relieved, too. Dad didn't want his kids to have pink hair and apparently Mum got teased about having pink hair and she didn't want us to get teased – especially Itachi. I mean, pink hair on a girl isn't that bad, but on a boy? No."
Her uncle nodded. There was a knock on the door and Naruto entered.
"You sent everyone to bed, Mikoto?" he asked. She nodded. "You two seem to be getting on fine," he added. "I heard laughter which is why I came up. Itachi, it's time we went back to the tower. Technically, you are still a criminal, although not for much longer if I can help it."
Itachi nodded and rose. He followed Naruto to the door, where he turned and looked at Mikoto.
"You can keep that," he told her, referring to the photograph. She smiled at him.
"Thank you," she said. Silently her uncles left – one blood related, the other her father's best friend. She glanced down at her brother, looking so innocent as he slept. Some colour had come back into his face, although he was still much paler than normal. She played with his hair, sitting by him all night.
Thanks for reading!
Tsari