Moi-Moi: This should have been posted DAYS ago, but I conveniently forgot to post the update here too. So sorry guys! However, I promise that I NEVER forget to post on Ao3...

~:~

Sasuke wasn't sure when he had passed out, but when he opened his eyes, he found himself in a damp and muggy sewer. Water lapped at his ankles and dripped from pipes along the ceiling, but he couldn't smell any of the telltale signs of sewage or garbage. Behind him, the passageway extended for what seemed like endlessly, culminating in absolute darkness. From ahead of him, he could feel a heated breeze blowing past. Where was he?

Initially, the sounds of his feet sloshing through the water seemed obnoxiously loud, but those sounds were slowly being drowned out by a low growl. As the deep growl grew in volume, Sasuke was able to pick up words being spoken between growls.

"…you need my chakra… "

"…destroy everything…"

"…kill…"

Sasuke frowned deeply. He was starting to have an idea of where he was and exactly what was speaking. It was all coming back to him. He'd utilized the last bit of his chakra to use his Mangekyo on Naruko. He knew that his sharingan could control the tailed beast within her, but he'd been acting mostly on instinct.

Was he inside her seal? Probably not. He doubted his sharingan afforded him that ability. If anything, he was currently walking around in her mindscape. Sasuke took in the damp and somewhat gloomy atmosphere. He wouldn't have expected this of the sunny blonde.

Eventually, the corridor let out into a large cavern with an enormous, metal gate at the back. The doors were held together by a strip of sealing paper, but a red, malevolent chakra was spreading through the bars, disturbing and heating the water on the floor. Sasuke watched the chakra roil before being sucked away into the only other person in the room. His eyes widened as he broke out into a sprint towards her kneeling form.

Completely ignoring the still growling kyuubi behind him, Sasuke kneeled before Naruko and tried to get her attention. Her normally vibrant eyes stared vacantly down at the ground as if she were in a trance. Sasuke gripped her shoulder and gave her a quick shake. "Naruko?"

"Another Uchiha…" the kyuubi growled threateningly. "…That vision… Those eyes are an unwelcome sight…"

Sasuke spared the kyuubi a quick glance and glare from over his shoulder before returning his attention on her. He tried shaking her a bit harder, his worry growing. "Usuratonkachi," he called out to her. Finally, he got a response from her. Her glazed over eyes slowly moved from the floor to meet his gaze, but the still unfocused gaze did nothing to relieve him. Feeling his anger growing, Sasuke turned hateful eyes on the kyuubi.

"It's not just the eyes that are familiar. I haven't felt chakra like this since Uchiha Madara," the kyuubi acknowledged, its large maw moving out of the shadows of its cage.

Sasuke couldn't care less about his defector of an ancestor or the kyuubi's stroll down memory lane. Turning back to Naruko, he frowned at her unengaged demeanor. "Oi, Usuratonkachi. I don't have all day with you. Snap out of it already," Sasuke said, failing to keep some worry from his voice. He could already feel what little chakra he had used for his Mangekyo draining away. Spur of the moment, Sasuke roughly smacked the back of her head.

"Ow!" Naruko shouted and clutched at her head. Suddenly, she sprung up and shouted, "What the hell, Bastard?"

More than comfortable arguing with her, Sasuke slipped seamlessly into his role, "Quit being stupid, Usuratonkachi." Sasuke had no intention of saying it out loud, but the immense relief that he felt was nearly enough to make him kiss her right then and there. But there were more pressing matters. Standing quickly, Sasuke offered her a hand up from her knees.

Naruko blinked in confusion for several seconds before slipping her hand into his. "How did you get here?"

Ignoring her question, Sasuke said, "I didn't realize you were such a loser even in your own head."

Immediately, her cheeks flamed. "Oi! I-" she started, but he cut her off.

"I don't have a lot of chakra left. You'll have to handle the rest on your own, Usuratonkachi," he said with a small frown. Her eyes widened in surprise as she started to look him over. He could see his form was becoming more transparent by the second.

Did he have any regrets? Perhaps a few. He would have liked to see his brother and mother one last time. He owed Itachi an apology. He hadn't really tried to not be too reckless. It would have been nice to finally catch Shisui during their training sessions. He wished he could thank Kakashi for all the man had done as his sensei. He was sure that he still owed Sakura an apology for how he had treated her as kids. He would regret not seeing Naruko become the Hokage.

"What did you do, Bastard!?" she shouted as she grabbed him by the front of his shirt. He could see the anger that she was using to mask the growing hurt in her eyes. The slight grip that she had managed was fleeting.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted and raised his hand towards her forehead. She watched his every move like a hawk, her wide, teary eyes glistening as his hand wrapped around the back of her head and pulled her in. He wasn't sure that she could feel how sorry he was, but he hoped that she could through his lips on her forehead.

~:~

Surprisingly, everything was painless when he opened his eyes again. For a second, he assumed that it had all been a chakra-deprivation induced dream. He'd actually awoken in a soft bed to a warm and bright morning. There were a couple of birds chirping away outside the bedroom window. Blinking to clear his vision, Sasuke tried to take in his surroundings. He was alone in this room- not his room.

Where the hell was he?

Sitting up slowly, Sasuke slowly looked over the room. Light green walls with orange trim and plain, brown furniture. There were books and scrolls strewn about and a few articles of clothes discarded on the floor. His eyes caught on the Uchiha crest hanging on the wall. Whose room was this? Hadn't the compound been destroyed when Pain attacked? Sasuke felt his breathing still when he spotted the red, Uzumaki spiral hanging innocently on the wall as well. Where the hell was he?

'Genjutsu?' he theorized and quickly disrupted his chakra flow. When that didn't work, he activated his sharingan to attempt to break through the illusion. But when even that failed, Sasuke felt his confusion and irritation rise. Was this the Akatsuki's doing? He wasn't aware of any genjutsu specialists in the Akatsuki.

His body tensed when he heard rapid footsteps coming closer. From the footfalls, he could identify two different people, but the steps weren't heavy enough for an adult. Sasuke felt slightly vulnerable in just a loose t-shirt and pants, but at least they hadn't sealed away his chakra. His reserves were surprisingly full and strong. How long had he been out?

Time slowed down as the doorknob started to turn. Sasuke's entire body tensed as he prepared to catch his captors in a genjutsu. He froze up, however, when he spotted the size and age of his captors. Two, small girls loudly entered the room, practically fighting each other to get inside. Lost in his confusion, Sasuke watched the girls with blue eyes and whisker marks shout at each other before they ran over to him and gleefully shouted, "Papa!"

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly as every thought ceased. Those eyes. He knew those eyes like the back of his hand. The eyes were set in pale, cherubic faces with two pairs of whiskers set in the cheeks. One girl's sleek, black hair was the complete contrast to the other's blonde, spikier locs.

He must have been quiet for too long because the blonde girl frowned slightly before reaching for his hand with a questioning, "Papa?"

Sasuke's not proud of how dramatically he flinched away from the child. Both of them were frowning at him now. The blonde tried to come closer while the other quickly turned and ran back towards the door. "Mama! Papa's feeling sick!" she loudly announced to the entire residence. Sasuke heard a muffled voice call out from somewhere else in the home just before more footsteps started to approach. Fight or flight instincts on high alert, Sasuke turned towards the open window.

He had no idea what the hell was going on, but he had no intention of staying any longer. One foot planted on the windowsill, Sasuke readied to jump but the sight of a perfectly intact Konoha made him pause. The village…was alright? Sasuke felt like he was floundering. This was definitely Konoha- he could see the Hokage Monument in the distance. Sasuke frowned deeply when he recognized the faces on the mountain- the six faces. He could easily recognize his brother's face perched next to the Yondaime's. But next to Itachi's stone face was an equally familiar one. Was that-

"Sasuke?"

Guided by pure instinct, Sasuke turned back to the person that had just called his name. This had to be an overly elaborate and yet inaccurate genjutsu. He could recognize her familiar features- her bright blue eyes, sunny blonde hair, and whiskered cheeks. But they were a part of an older vision. She was taller, her face had gained a bit of softness to it probably due to her apparent pregnancy. Sasuke's felt his vision tilt for just a second, but it must have been enough time for her to approach him against his wishes. "Sasuke?" she questioned again, concern flooding her gaze.

"N-Naruko?" he hated how quickly he was buying into this illusion. Despite her growth, he was still taller than her. His foot slowly lowered from the window as he turned to face her completely.

She raised a brow at him, her hands going to her hips. "Did you fall out of bed and hit your head or something?"

Sasuke could only stare at her. It was all so surreal. They had managed to get every fleck of violet in her eyes and the exact cadence of her voice right in this genjutsu, but then aged her up about ten years.

He watched her as she watched him until she frowned slightly. She raised her small hand to his face and, surprisingly, he let her touch the side of his face. "Sharingan?" she questioned. "Bad dreams?" she whispered and brushed her thumb over his cheek.

"Usuratonkachi," he breathed. He was used to her initiating contact between them, but very rarely ever did she do so with a touch so delicate or affectionate.

She seemed to be comforted by the familiarity. "You're being weirder than normal, 'ttebayo," she said with a shake of her head. "Let's go back downstairs, girls. You can help set the table."

"Is Papa alright?" the dark-haired girl asked, still eyeing him.

"He will be. He just fell out of bed again," Naruko explained with a smirk.

"Papa fell?" the blonde child asked with wide-eyed worry.

"Ah. He can be pretty clumsy," Naruko said and took the child by the hand to lead her away. Sasuke snorted at the thought of her (of all people) accusing him of being clumsy. He caught Naruko's knowing smirk from over her shoulder just before she ushered both girls out of the room and closed the door behind her.

Once alone, Sasuke drained the chakra from his eyes with a silent exhale. He needed to get out of here.

~:~

Despite all his efforts to break this genjutsu, Sasuke remained stuck. After disrupting his chakra flow a few more times, reactivating his sharingan, and even activating his Mangekyo, Sasuke was becoming a bit panicked. If this wasn't a genjutsu, what was it? Was this a dream? Was he hallucinating? He'd pinched himself in the side but hadn't gotten much for his trouble.

So, not genjutsu. Not a dream. And he probably wasn't hallucinating. Sasuke loathed to admit it, but he'd even considered the ludicrous possibility of time travel. If there were jutsu that granted immortality, then time travel was possible. But who would send him to the future and why? Sasuke had quickly put a stop to that line of thinking, however. The most logical reason was the easiest to believe.

He was dead and this was his hell. Or was it heaven? Living in a future where he and Naruko lived together with children of their own didn't sound like eternal punishment. Quite the contrary, honestly. According to the Hokage Monument, she was the current Hokage and he was…what exactly? If he wanted to find out more, he would have to explore this new reality.

Once he had stepped into the kitchen where his apparent family was currently residing, three matching sets of blue eyes turned to watch him. Faced with a side-by-side comparison, Sasuke could easily determine that the girls- his girls?- possessed a slightly darker shade of blue than Naruko.

"Well don't just stand there, 'ttebayo. Come eat. Himawari made your favorite," Naruko said and pat the seat next to her at the table.

Immediately, the blonde girl turned a bright grin onto him, practically falling out of her chair. "Mama helped but only a little. I did most of it by myself, 'ttebasa!" Himawari exclaimed, giving Sasuke flashbacks to a younger Naruko.

Sasuke hesitated for less than a second before moving to the only open seat at the table. When he saw the food laid out for him, he blinked speechlessly. He assumed they were meant to be onigiri, but they were lumpy and misshapen with bits of katsuobushi peeking out between the grains of rice. Glancing upwards, Sasuke was met with the tentatively hopeful stare of his supposed daughter and the knowing looks from his girlfriend (or was she his wife now?). Despite it nearly falling apart in his hand, Sasuke did his best to take a bite. It wasn't terrible.

"It's…nice," he finally critiqued. He could see Naruko silently shaking in laughter in his peripheral while Himawari's smile brightened impossibly. Satisfied with his judgement, she sat back down in her seat and returned to her food.

This was all the prompting his other daughter needed to insert herself into the conversation. "Papa, will you teach me a jutsu?" she requested, a look far too serious for a child in her eyes. Suddenly, Sasuke was reminded of a time when he had approached his own father with a request for instruction. He had hoped to finally have all of his father's attention and time, but it had gone about as well as many of his interactions with his father had.

"Sarada, you're a bit young to be learning jutsu," Naruko commented with a patient look.

"I'm five!" Sarada objected. "Papa was around my age when he learned the Goukakyuu no jutsu and Itachi-oji-san was even younger!"

"Sarada-" Naruko started.

"I'm an Uchiha. Neh, Papa?" Sarada pointed out while turning expectant eyes onto him.

Sasuke had been content to eat his poorly shapen onigiri in silence, but he had been once again dragged into the conversation. Both Sarada and Naruko were giving him expectant looks, but he wasn't sure how to respond. How would his older self have responded? Swallowing slowly, Sasuke nodded once. "We'll see if you can handle it," Sasuke said, but surely any child of his would be more than up to the task. Unfortunately, he must have said the wrong thing because Naruko shot him a frown. At least Sarada was pleased.

"Me too, Papa! I'm an Uchiha, too!" Himawari exclaimed, shooting up in her seat with her arms waving wildly. This started an argument between the girls over who would get to train with him. Were it not for the slight similarities to him in their appearances, Sasuke would be hard pressed to say that the loud and excitable children were his. When he turned back to Naruko, he was surprised to her shooting him another look as if to say, 'See what you did?'

"Nuh uh! Papa is training with me first!"

"I asked first!"

"I'm older!"

"By only fifteen minutes!"

~:~

Next time, Sasuke would take cues from Naruko and follow her lead.

After breakfast, Sasuke found himself being pulled from the house by both hands, each girl more than eager to get their lesson underway. Naruko had been resolutely unhelpful, more than willing to throw him to the wolves. Sasuke glanced down at where the girls were resolutely marching ahead of him, one of his hands in each of theirs as if they were preventing him from disappearing on them mid-route. (He had been tempted to leave and return to Naruko, but there was no way that they could have known that.)

Perhaps he was being dramatic. But Sasuke had never been a fan of children, nor had he ever truly considered having any. He had assumed that he would eventually, but only for the sake of his clan as a son of the main branch family. But if he had to spend the rest of eternity as a father to two rambunctious girls (and one on the way apparently), he was going to have to learn his role quickly. But what kind of role would he play?

His only example of fatherhood came from his own father and Sasuke refused to reenact that disaster. He didn't even know his daughters, but he knew that they deserved better than what he had received growing up. Naturally, any child of his deserved the best. But how would he go about being the best? Maybe fatherhood wouldn't be too difficult? He already knew what a poor example looked like. Could it be so easy as to just do what Fugaku wouldn't and not do what he had? It was a start.

Once they had arrived at the familiar lake, Sasuke walked to the end of the dock and looked out at the water. It looked almost identical to how it had looked all those years ago. Unwillingly, his father's words came back to him as if the memory had happened only yesterday.

"This is a fundamental jutsu in the Uchiha clan," Sasuke repeated the words as his hands slowly went through the signs. He could feel the attentive stares of both girls, but their eyes went wide in awe as he breathed a giant ball of fire over the surface of the water. Once finished, he stepped back to make room for the girls at the edge of the dock. Once they had gotten over their astonishment, they quickly shot each other a competitive look before taking their places.

Sasuke watched as they tentatively moved their hands through the signs, taking a few minutes to familiarize their fingers with the foreign motions. He was mildly curious as to how this would play out. Would they get it right away or would they struggle?

After a few minutes, it was Himawari that tried first. Sasuke watched her go through the signs with only slight hesitation. He could feel where she was gathering her chakra, her reserves much larger than should be for a five-year-old. However, only a puff of black smoke escaped from her mouth with a series of racking coughs. Purely on instinct, Sasuke was at her back with a soft pat. Once her coughing had ceased, Sasuke caught an embarrassed, teary gaze from the girl.

Staring at Himawari filled Sasuke with nostalgia. It was like seeing a young Naruko. Had it been Naruko that had failed in front of him, he surely would have teased her for it. But he could see a familiar shame quickly filling his daughter's eyes- the shame from disappointing a parent.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu!" Sarada's voice suddenly interrupted. Sasuke's eyes snapped up in time to watch his other daughter expel a fireball from her mouth. Not a very large one, but still fully formed and viable. Immediately, she turned a proud expression his way.

"Good job," Sasuke didn't hesitate to compliment. He even gave Sarada a small pat on the head.

"I want to try again!" he should have predicted Himawari would exclaim. The soot coating her entire mouth didn't deter her from facing the lake again and pushing her tiny hands through the mudras once again. Sasuke smiled at the fiery determination in her eyes. This time, her chakra came out as more of a heated burp, warming the air around her a bit. Predictably, she was already preparing to try again.

"You'll burn your mouth if you keep that up," Sasuke chimed in. When Himawari turned sad eyes onto him, Sasuke could tell that she was waiting for him to pass judgement.

"I should have guessed that it wouldn't have gone like it had with Itachi."

Ignoring the flush of anger that the thought of his father's words brought him, Sasuke spoke in the most soothing tone that he could. "I burned my mouth several times when I was first learning the jutsu," Sasuke revealed. He knew from experience that nothing would come from forcing raw chakra out of the mouth. It had taken him a few tries to realize this, however.

Immediately, both girls turned wide eyes onto him. "You burned yourself Papa?" Himawari asked tentatively. Sarada looked too stunned to speak.

"Ah. I practiced for a week before I could make an impressive enough fireball. Learning a new elemental jutsu is much more difficult when you have a different affinity," Sasuke explained with a patient smile. "Your chakra feels more like Naruko's, so you probably have her affinity for wind."

"…Does that mean you'll teach me the Rasengan instead?" Himawari asked with a foxy grin, no longer down from her previous failure.

Sasuke nearly sighed in exasperation. "Ask Naruko."

~:~

After spending the day with his children (it was still strange to think about, but he was slowly getting used to the idea), Sasuke was more than ready to get some rest. Despite Sarada's more calm nature, she still possessed some of Naruko's excitability. Both girls together were like a whirlwind, each vying for his attention while trying to outdo the other. No matter what he tried, he hadn't been able to do much besides get pulled along for their ride of energetic mischief. Fortunately, Naruko had taken pity on him and had wrangled both girls without much effort.

"I thought it was too soon for age to catch up on you, 'ttebayo," Sasuke heard Naruko tease. He was currently laying down in their bed and didn't bother to move. He was sure that she could still hear and decipher his single grunt. "Don't worry. Kaa-chan says it'll get better after they start the Academy."

Sasuke cracked an eye open and caught sight of her knowing smile. "I don't remember you being so loud," he huffed.

Naruko laughed before coming over to sit next to him on the bed. "Well, you're probably not remembering right, 'ttebayo," she replied and brushed aside some of the hair that had fallen in his face. "Maybe, if you're lucky, this next one will be just like you," she said and rested a hand on her protruding belly. A slight spike of panic shot through him at the idea of having another child after just meeting the first two. It felt as if his life had suddenly shifted into overdrive. As if she had sensed it, Naruko was quick to soothingly run her fingers through his hair. Sasuke eyed her curiously.

They had always been connected. Sasuke had always felt that Naruko was able to see through his many walls. He may not have been as empathetic as her, but he could always get a feel for what she felt. It's not like she had ever tried to hide anything from him. And their bond had only grown stronger the more time that they spent together. Sometimes, it was almost as if he could read her very thoughts. But did this future Naruko have constant access to his mind? Naruko smiled sweetly at him before kissing his temple softly. He watched her rise and continue getting ready for bed.

One thing was for certain, this future Naruko was far more affectionate than he was used to from her. He didn't think that it was possible for the already tactile Naruko to reach even greater levels of physicality. This Naruko made contact as easy as breathing- a casual brush of fingers over the back of his arm, a rub of her hand over his back, a quick hug when his back had been turned. (Fortunately, his surprise and fight or flight instincts had been curbed by her chakra shining brightly along his senses.)

Unexpectedly, he didn't mind the newfound affection. He liked the casual familiarity of it. He liked seeing all the ways she knew how to best interact with him. If anything, he was disappointed by his inability to match her. This Naruko had an extra ten years on him. "Hn," Sasuke grunted and rose. He had died. He had all the time in the world with her now.

She was standing in front of the sink, actually brushing her teeth before bed. He must have been able to drill that habit into her over the years. Catching sight of the uchiwa fan stitched into the back of her shirt, Sasuke smiled softly as he approached. He released a deep breath as his arms wrapped around her from behind. 'All the time in the world,' he reminded himself as his hands splayed out over her belly.

Naruko giggled softly as one of her hands reached back to caress his cheek. "Are you trying to rush me into bed with you? Alright. I'm game," she said and quickly turned in his arms. It wasn't what he'd been trying to do, but she was pulling him in for a heated kiss before he could say anything. She even kissed better than his Naruko. In a matter of moments, she had rewired his brain- shifting from his want to explore his new boundaries to a need to explore more sensual avenues.

He barely registered the soft thump of her colliding with the counter. He was both intensely focused on mimicking the actions of her mouth while simultaneously not having a single thought on his mind. He had to brace himself on the sink when she tugged on his shirt a bit harder than he was expecting. She snickered mischievously while pushing herself up to sit on the counter and wrapping her thighs around his hips. Her belly made it challenging to get as close to her as he would have liked. He had been in the middle of adjusting her thighs when a sudden crash and childlike scream halted him in his tracks.

"Sarada?" Naruko was able to guess, already pushing herself to stand.

Sasuke was faster than her, already reaching the door to the girl's bedroom open by the time she had stepped out of their room. He tried to listen for any sounds on the other side of the door, but it was too silent. He couldn't sense any chakra signatures in the room either. Pushing the door open, Sasuke ignored the inexplicable fear and panic that were mounting within him.

The girls' room was dark, but he could still make out the signs of a struggle. Destroyed toys littered the floor, one of the beds was bare of its discarded and rumpled sheets, and a few picture frames had fallen to the floor and cracked. Sasuke tried to turn the lights on, but when the switch flicked uselessly in response, he activated his sharingan. With his red-tinted vision, he could now make out the sight of a small, pale foot poking out from under one of the beds. He couldn't tell which girl it was, but before he could approach, a white scaly tail slipped out from the darkness under the bed and pulled the foot in with a soft hiss. Breath catching in his throat, Sasuke paused.

"Orochimaru?" Sasuke questioned in disbelief. What the hell-

"Sasuke?"

His heart dropped at the sound of Naruko calling his name. His mind quickly flashed through the many nightmares he'd had, all ending with Orochimaru impaling her. He was already gathering lightning chakra to face the snake head on but hesitated at the sight of Pain's emotionless expression staring him down. The Akatsuki leader had one hand pinning Naruko to the wall, squeezing the very life from her while the other was poised at her stomach. Sasuke tried to rush at the man, but found his feet stuck to the floor. A nest of white snakes had worked their way up his feet, both squeezing his limbs and anchoring him to the floor.

"Know pain," the man said just before jabbing a glowing hand at Naruko's belly. The pained scream she released rang through his head.

He was wrong. This wasn't his heaven. He'd been damned to his own eternal hell. "Naruko!" he screamed for her as he watched her lifeless body hit the floor. He tried to cut through the snakes with his lightning release, burning them with his blaze release when that wasn't effective.

A low hiss cut through the sounds of his struggles. Sasuke froze up just as Orochimaru slid out from under one of the children's beds. The snakes were rapidly sliding over his body until he could barely move. Sasuke's breath caught in his throat and his eyes widened fearfully. "Ku ku ku," Orochimaru chuckled. He tried to set the man ablaze, catch him in a genjutsu, anything, but felt his sharingan fade from his eyes as his chakra petered out. "Sasuke!" Orochimaru hissed as he jumped with fangs gleaming.

~:~

When Sasuke came to, he felt oddly unharmed. Maybe a bit of soreness in his limbs and some disorientation, but nothing that he couldn't handle. Opening his eyes left him even more confused, however. Why was he outside? Where was he? Why was he so dirty?

"Sasuke?"

Turning to who had called his name, Sasuke was surprised to see a misty-eyed Itachi kneeling next to him.

"Sasuke!?"

His mother was both bleeding and crying, her hands cupping her mouth as she tried to stifle her sobs. Fugaku stood next to her, his eyes blown wide. All three of them stared at him in shock, as if he had just grown a second head.

Was this a new level of hell? What would happen to him now? Would Itachi kill him here? "Itachi-" Sasuke started but was cut off by Itachi roughly embracing him. When Sasuke turned questioning eyes onto his parents, his mother took that as her cue to wrap her arms around both him and Itachi with even louder sobs. What truly stunned Sasuke was his father's hesitant approach and tentative touch of his shoulder.

So many questions ran through his mind, but the one that made it out of his mouth was, "Where's Naruko?"

~:~

He was alive.

He was alive.

His little brother had defied nature and logic and had come back to life.

He had been silently kneeling by his brother's fallen body when his parents had caught up to him. Itachi was sure that he wouldn't forget the sound of his mother's woeful cry for a very long time. Her pained cries had been barely muffled by his father's chest and soft, soothing words. Itachi had been too busy staring at his brother's corpse to soothe her. His eyes burned.

It felt like his insides- his very essence- had been scooped out of him. All of his will had left him in a single breath, leaving him bereft. The skin over his knuckles was taut and white from how tightly he clenched his fists, but he couldn't feel them.

Itachi was familiar with his own wrathful vengeance, having experienced it once on a mission where Shisui had been nearly fatally injured. He had exacted his revenge on some unfamiliar Iwa shinobi that had gotten a lucky hit on his closest friend- an extremely wrathful display that had startled him with how easily it had been for him to cast aside his pacifist nature. From then on, Itachi questioned to what limits he could be pushed to when it came to his precious people. His little brother, the person who arguably meant the most to him, had been slain. He expected to feel that wrathful vengeance again but was surprised by the cold numbness that flooded him instead.

Itachi glanced at Sasuke's weapon pouch- a half-baked plan already forming in his head. But he wouldn't- couldn't- go through with it. It would just hurt his mother more to lose both her sons at once. Then, if he was going to continue living at least for now, he would make it his task to find the one responsible. The idea of retribution was blossoming in the forefront of Itachi's mind. He was owed it.

His mother's sobs had already died down to sniffles by the time he had made his decision. Plans were already starting to form in his mind before he'd even stood from the ground. Perhaps there was some unseen force watching over him because just as he was about to rise, a bright green light flew overhead and dived into his brother's body. He could hear his parents stop breathing behind him as they all watched Sasuke's body momentarily glow green. He had no idea what had just been done, but his own breathing ceased when he felt his brother's chakra grow in strength and size. Several agonizing seconds passed as they all waited for something to happen. And then his brother opened his eyes.

"Sasuke?" Itachi spoke in a slightly shaky tone.

Sasuke turned to him questioningly, looking increasingly confused. Itachi heard his mother cry out in relief behind him. Disbelief still raged within him, but it was quickly being drowned out by relief and hopeful joy. Sasuke had been about to say something, but Itachi pulled him in for a bone-crushing hug instead. Itachi couldn't remember the last time that he'd hugged his little brother. He would have to try to do it more often.

Considering the circumstances, Itachi was only mildly surprised that the first, coherent words out of Sasuke's mouth had been about Naruko. Finally releasing a sigh of relief, Itachi pulled back to give his brother an exasperated look. Sasuke's eyes went wide, however.

"Nii-san, your eyes," Sasuke said and completely turned his world upside down.

Itachi blinked to clear his watery vision, but he had the mounting suspicion that Sasuke wasn't referring to the tears gathering in his eyes. When Itachi saw his mother's astonished and slightly horrified gaze, Itachi felt his heart drop. He didn't bother to hide his eyes from his father. Sasuke frowned a bit at him before pulling out a kunai and showing him his own reflection. Itachi wasn't surprised to see his own Mangekyo sharingan- three, spiraling curves around his pupil- set in his eye sockets.

~:~

Moi-Moi: From seventeen one minute to twenty-seven and married with kids in the next. I think Sasuke handled it decently well. I definitely would have freaked out more.

But, at least we've almost reached the end of the Pain arc! There will be a bit of filler after this but I'm still looking forward to it. And (spoilers!) there will be some sexy times ahead for our favorite couple *wink, wink*

Thanks for reading!