Itachi and Kisame were currently being held in a leaf prison. Kisame was bitching and moaning about being held, but Itachi was deathly silent. Kisame couldn't blame him. They had taken his wife and daughter somewhere he could not see them. He had no idea what was happening to them right now.

Itachi was terrified.

Kisame, bound by layers of chakra seals, tried to comfort his companion who was in a similar state.

"Hey, I'm sure they won't hurt Haruna as long as Takara's there."

Itachi nodded in response, but his eyes were still wide with fear. He was trembling, and Kisame cursed underneath his breath.

They had gotten intercepted by Konoha shinobi as they were attempting to find a new place to stay. Though Itachi, Kisame, and Haruna were holding their own against them quite well, they did not expect them to play dirty.

Kisame still remembered the look of terror Itachi's eyes held when one of the shinobi grabbed hold of Takara and held a knife to her throat. He immediately dropped his weapons and surrendered, and Kisame followed suit shortly after. He wasn't a family man, but even he understood how it felt when someone threatened something dear.

Sighing, he could only hope they would be able to escape soon. Or were their inevitable executions being planned already?

Sakura and Sasuke immediately dashed to the source of the screaming.

Kenji was unmoving on the ground, Rudy standing over him. Sakura froze. His fur coat was stained with dark crimson. It wasn't fresh. She let out a sigh of relief when she realized he hadn't killed Kenji. However…

Rudy cackled maniacally, throwing his head back as he grabbed Kenji from the hair. Sakura wanted to kill him, but she knew that he could break Kenji's neck so easily at that moment. Sasuke's hand was on the hilt of his sword, but he also knew that they were at a disadvantage. He clucked his tongue.

Rudy looked at them with crazy eyes, perspiration gathering on his brow as his chest heaved up and down. He had not stopped laughing, and he had sloppily thrown Kenji under his arm. Sakura was shaking with anger, and she almost started to cry. Suddenly Rudy turned angry, and his glare was directed at Sakura.

"You bitch," he growled out. "This is all your fault. If you hadn't been there, Koga would still…" He screamed and transformed a teleportation jutsu. Sakura gasped.

"No!" she cried out, running forward, but Sasuke caught her arm before she could grab onto the escaping man.

"Sakura, no!" For once, he sounded panicked and frantic. "Rudy could hurt him. Let him get away for now."

Sakura's eyes began welling up with tears, and she let out a sob. "Sasuke," she moaned. "He took my son."

"I know."

"He took my son!" she wailed, crumpling to the ground, sobs wracking her body. Sasuke pulled her up, and Sakura struggled against him. "No, no!" she screamed, trying to rip herself away from him. She was not prepared for what happened next.

Sasuke slapped her across the face.

It hadn't hurt that much, but it had brought her to the ground. She sat there, stunned, holding her cheek.

"Pull yourself together." He pulled her to her feet again, and this time Sakura complied. "We need help to get Kenji back. We can't do it alone. We have to ask Naruto for help." His voice was shaky, and Sakura realized that she was being ridiculous. She needed to stop crying and get her son back.

"Okay."

Sasuke was immediately detained upon entering the village. He expected no less, but it was still frightening. He was bound in chakra seals, as well as physically restrained, and was shoved into a cell. The guards laughed. "We got both of them down here, huh?"

Sasuke's blood ran cold.

"Ah, have a nice family reunion, Uchiha."

Naruto had tackled Sakura with a hug. He was crying into her ear, holding her so tight she couldn't breathe.

"I was so worried about you," he choked out. Sakura only nodded in response, her eyes wide and her expression seemingly detached. "I know what Sasuke did to you. That fucking asshole. I should have killed him years ago. I've thrown that bastard into jail; don't worry-"

"Naruto." Her blank voice cut Naruto off from his rambling. "Kenji's been kidnapped."

Naruto frowned. "When?"

"Right as we were heading back to the village. Sasuke was taking us back. You need to release him so we can go get Kenji."

Naruto's face twisted into a bitter snarl. "What?" he bit out. "Don't be ridiculous, Sakura, I can't possibly let him out after what he's done to you! That bastard's going to rot in there until he dies-"

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled. "Orochimaru has kidnapped my son! Don't you understand that? He might KILL Kenji, or worse, he'll steal his body!" Sakura grabbed him by the collar and shook him. "Do you fucking understand, Naruto? He's going to KILL my son!" She threw him against his desk, and he stumbled backwards, not hurt at all, just shocked at her violence.

"Sakura…"

"Sasuke helped me, okay? He let me escape, he helped me escape the bastards Orochimaru sent. Kenji would already be dead if not for him! He's changed, Naruto! He's still changing! And I need him to get our son back!" she spat, her muscles clenched so tight she thought they might rip out of her.

Naruto stared at her in shock, fingers grabbing onto his desk. "Sakura, he's a criminal."

"I know."

"He kidnapped you-"

"Fuck, Naruto, I know!" Sakura slapped a hand to her forehead, walking around in a circle. She paused, a tear trickling down her face. "I thought you would understand," she croaked, covering her eyes.

That made Naruto's stomach flip and his chest clench. What was he doing? This was the woman he loved, crying because she had just lost her son. He wouldn't even hear her out, too preoccupied on the wrongs Sasuke had done to hear her experiences.

He pulled out a chair for her, and she shot him a questioning glance.

"Sit. Tell me everything."

She did.

Sasuke slowly turned his head.

Itachi.

He violently pulled against his restraints, not knowing his brother had done the same days ago, albeit for different reasons. There was only one thought racing through his head.

Kill, kill, kill-

He stopped when he saw the look on his brother's face. It was completely ashen, as if he were dead. He wasn't of course, his chest was still moving, but Itachi was visibly shaken. He hadn't even taunted Sasuke as he would before, hadn't even spared him a glance.

Sasuke attempted to calm down, taking deep breaths and closing his eyes. He needed to think. There were more important things than Itachi right now.

Thinking back on it now, there were so many signs that Kenji had been his son. The fact that Sakura had been so adamant about not revealing the father's name to him, the black eyes, the spiky hair…

The fact that he and Sakura had had sex just over six years ago had completely escaped his mind.

Hanging his head in shame, he felt his eyes sting. The guilt started washing over him in waves. He had hurt his son, his own son. He had shocked him into a heart attack. He had starved him, deprived him of sleep. It was one thing to do it to Sakura. That had been bad enough. It was another to do it to his son.

He deserved to die.

Kisame noticed Sasuke at last.

"Oh, Itachi-san, it's your little brother." Itachi slowly turned his head to the side, eyes connecting with Sasuke's.

Itachi didn't say anything, but Sasuke could see so much confusion swirling around in his mind, along with relief.

He could have sworn he heard Itachi whisper, "you're okay…" but he brushed it off.

He had more important things to think about besides Itachi right now.

Words:1337

Sorry for the wait guys! I've been busy in Uni. ugh.

thanks for reading.