Yello!
Sorry, I didn't mean to neglect this for a couple of weeks. I honestly don't know what I'm doing with this and I don't have an ending yet, so I'll be doing this as I go along, but I do have a slight idea? I don't know. I don't have many friends who are into fics and stuff so it's hard to bounce ideas off of people. So if anyone wants to help me with that, check out my tumblr or twitter of the same name.

The funeral for the Hokage and the rest of his family was something out of a fairytale book.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been in and out of the village to pay their respects to them all week. Unfortunately with so many people, Itachi was asked to do his ANBU duties instead of the investigation. Yes, he is wearing himself thin, but he still had an obligation to the village.

Itachi was tasked to guard the new Hokage and his family. He didn't know how Shikamaru got the position, but he felt like the village was in good hands. Shikamaru knew who Itachi was under his mask and would have random conversations with him. One of them was notably memorable.

Besides Sasuke and Sakura, Naruto always stated that he trusted Shikamaru with his life. That he was a pretty close friend to the family. It was obvious as the younger man was tasked to watch after Himawari and not Sasuke or Sakura, which Itachi had found a little weird.

"Why did Naruto leave Himawari in your hands?" Itachi had asked the night after the funeral, Himawari asleep in his lap. Shikamaru looked up at the masked man and sighed.

"When he made his will, I helped him with it. When I asked the same question, he said that he didn't want to burden Sakura and Saskue wasn't in the village enough to look after his kids. I was surprised as well, but it's what he wanted." Shikamaru explained with a sigh.
"I'm not a person of interest, am I?"

"Sorry, Nara-Sama, but you know I can't tell you if you are or aren't. Not while in this role."

Shikamaru nodded.

"There is one weird thing about the day Naruto was murdered."

Itachi's ears perked up, turning his masked face towards the new Hokage.

"Sasuke wasn't due to come back until after the vacation Naruto was supposed to go on."

Itachi didn't know that. He didn't know much of his brother's schedule, but if that was the case, then why did he come back to the village sooner than he was supposed to? Itachi was confused, but he knew what Shikamaru was hinting at.

"Your brother had gone after Naruto before, why wouldn't he do it again?" Shikamaru said quietly. Itachi stiffened. He didn't like that Shikamaru thought it was his brother that would murder Naruto and his family. He wouldn't know what the motive would be in the first place.

"I know what you're hinting at, Nara-Sama, but I highly doubt Sasuke would have been capable of hurting Naruto or his family." Itachi stated with an even tone, but deep down inside he wanted to defend his brother. He would always have a soft spot for his younger sibling.
"I know you're protective of him. You had joined Kakashi in helping clear his name after the war, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't do something horrible… again." Shikamaru explained slowly, trying to get Itachi to see reason.

"Look, I would like to believe that Sasuke is reformed as the next person, but sometimes that isn't the case. Do you know where Sasuke was before he came back to the village?"
Itachi shook his head no. Shikamaru continued.

"He was last seen with Orochimaru right before he came to the village. Sorry, but even Orochimaru hasn't been reformed. What makes you think Sasuke would change for the better?"

Itachi stiffened. He didn't have a retort to that. All he could do was take a deep breath and let go of it.

"Who all have you told?" Itachi asked. Shikamaru sighed, acting as if that question was so simple.

"Only Temari knows my opinion of this. I haven't told Himawari and I haven't told my son. They won't know my opinions on the death of a family that meant a lot to all of us."

Itachi thought to himself for a few minutes.
"Do you keep a log of Sasuke? Where he goes and such?"

"We do. It's kept at the office. Of course you will need a warrant to get it, though. Not that I wouldn't simply hand it to you but we have rules that everyone needs to go by.

Itachi nodded. He knew it wasn't going to be that easy, but he thought he could try. Both Shikamaru and Itachi looked up when someone else landed on the patch of land in front of the back porch. Another ANBU was there for his shift. Itachi wanted to stay longer, to get more information from the smart man, but he knew his time was up when the other ANBU nodded his head. Lucky for Itachi, he knew who the other masked man was and felt that the Kage was in safe hands.

"I'll get the warrant. Thank you for your time," Itachi said, nodding his head in thanks towards the kage before he brought a finger to his chest and disappeared. He appeared at the office he kept in the Uchiha compound. Sighing, he went to pull out a blank scroll to start on the warrant he needed to get the logs. Of course, he hoped it wasn't her brother but Shikamaru mad a couple of points.

Why would Sasuke be with Orochimaru?

Itachi chalked it up to him just wanting to see his mentor, but it wasn't a secret that the snake charmer wanted both Sasuke and Naruto dead at one point. It also wasn't a secret that Sasuke wanted Naruto dead as well, but Itachi didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to assume the worst, but if Shikamaru had been right, then Sasuke would be suspect number one.

After he filled out the scroll, he rolled it back up, placing it on the desk in front of him.
All he had to do was file this with his father and wait, no matter how much he hated the waiting game.

"What have you gotten yourself into, ototo…." He said to himself, closing his eyes to try and get a bit of sleep.

Thanks for reading!
Kudos are all that I ask.