Sasuke needed a moment, falling down on the ground.
"So Brother wasn't…"
As he thought back, he looked increasingly embarrassed with himself.
Finally he gave in.
He accepted everything I said. Aunt Asa and I could be delusional, but Sasuke did not believe his brother was too.
Sasuke admitted to me that Itachi had not reacted like someone who just received news of a friend's death. He hadn't been confused, or shocked, or grieving. He had no questions nor did he demand to be part of the investigation.
In fact, Itachi made it clear how uninterested he was in the investigation, turning very uncooperative and cold whenever it was mentioned.
Sasuke frowned.
"He knows what happened."
I propped my cheek against my fist.
"He's not going to tell us, is he?"
Judging from Sasuke's grimace, I could tell he tried… and tried again. It was no use. When it came to secrets, Itachi was carrying them to his grave. We would have better luck with literally anybody else.
"Who else do you think is in on it?"
Sasuke thought about it.
"Cousin Michio."
"You said he… ran away?"
I learned that Michio running away wasn't anything new. This was already his third time. He had always been wild and disobedient, to the point that the clan had long given up on trying to make anything of him.
The person who found and brought him back every time had been Shisui. You could even say Shisui was the reason Michio cared about the clan at all.
So it wasn't surprising that once Shisui went missing, Michio shortly followed.
Michio hadn't been exactly subtle about his leave either.
Half of the area near the lake was still demolished.
He had taken his rage out on Tomoe and everyone else, screaming it was all their fault, that they deserved what they had coming.
Michio was… actually terrifyingly powerful.
Dragged down the whole sky. Smashed through the earth with lightning and thunder.
He wasn't the type you could capture even if you tried.
And once he was gone, good luck getting him back. His henge was impenetrable. It came as easy to him as breathing, without thought, awake or asleep.
"Well that sucks," I said, crestfallen.
I pretended to be annoyed by Michio's antics, but in truth, I liked him. He was a good friend. I had picked out souvenirs just to see his excitement.
Michio probably would have gladly told us what was happening too. I'd like to believe he would have taken our side.
If only I had come back before he left…
I groaned.
Life was never going to be that easy, was it. If we wanted the truth, we would have to get it the hard way, through blood and terror and rolls upon rolls of contracts.
I already knew what Sasuke was going to say before he said it.
"Lady Tomoe definitely knows."
"I figured."
I waited for Sasuke to name someone else. Literally anyone else.
Nope.
I wept. Blood and terror it is.
"You plan to ask her?" Sasuke asked, skeptical.
"Pray for me."
Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"If you do, can you find out what's wrong with Brother too?"
I looked up.
"Something's wrong with Itachi?"
Sasuke looked away.
"I think it's related to Shisui's disappearance. I… I don't know." He took a deep breath. "He hasn't been himself."
"In what way?"
"You remember when I said he snapped?"
"... remind me?" I said, sweating.
Sasuke huffed. "The day the police came to our house with Shisui's note. They… might have insinuated Brother was involved…" Which Sasuke now begrudgingly accepted might be true. "...and told him he won't go unpunished if he ever betrays the clan. Brother… did not take that well."
I raised an eyebrow. "What, did Itachi yell at them or something?"
Sasuke mumbled.
I leaned in. "What?"
"I said, he beat them up! He beat them up. They were going to charge him for assault until Father stepped in."
I blinked.
"Itachi."
"Yes."
"Our Itachi."
"No, the other Itachi," Sasuke snarked.
"Huh."
I took that in.
"Good for him," I said.
Sasuke stared at me in disbelief.
"They were being rude and insensitive, weren't they?" I guessed.
Sasuke didn't deny it. Of course not. This was our uncles we were talking about. They were about as sensitive as bricks. I could only imagine how that conversation went.
"Does that matter?" Sasuke asked.
"Of course it does," I said grimly. "Talk shit, eat shit."
"Brother isn't you," Sasuke snapped. "He doesn't lose his patience like that."
"Patience is overrated."
I wondered if Itachi trashed his dad too. I would pay to see that.
"You are a horrible influence," Sasuke groaned.
"Total delinquent."
Sasuke gave up on me getting it, the serious seriousness that was Itachi giving our uncles a smackdown. As if I wouldn't have done that myself a hundred times over given the power. As if I wasn't still pissed at them over the Shao incident.
As if I'd ever side with Uncle Inabi over Itachi, pft.
Damn, I was actually getting upset that I missed it.
I might be getting butterflies thinking about it.
I could understand why Sasuke was freaking out though.
Both Shisui and I had seen Itachi pissed off before. Maybe not beat-up-our-uncles level of pissed, but I was sure Itachi and I fought when we were younger. Like roll-on-the-floor, kick and bite each other type of fight.
But I had noticed that Itachi did act very differently around Sasuke. I did not think Sasuke ever heard Itachi raise his voice. He might not have even seen Itachi glare.
"Itachi is allowed to have bad moods like the rest of us. I'll try to find out what's bothering him, if it's Shisui or something else. But as long as he's not going around bullying people, I wouldn't worry," I assured.
Sasuke dropped his shoulders.
"Anything else about Itachi that's been bothering you?"
"He's been saying weird things."
"Like?"
"Like asking me if I hate him."
This time I straightened up, listening more intently.
Sasuke told me that for a while now Itachi had been saying these distancing things. Like how different the two of them were. How hard it must be to relate. Some of the things he said had been really off-putting too.
When I asked what he meant by that, Sasuke said it was like his brother found a gossip book of everything nasty anyone had ever said about him, and talking like they were all obviously true.
I didn't get a chance to interject.
"He's gaslighting me," Sasuke said, annoyed. "And being half-ass about it."
I closed my mouth.
"Do you know why?"
He pouted.
"I assumed he wanted space. I don't want to be annoying, so I've tried not to bother him as much."
Sasuke dragged the stick in the dirt, depressed.
"Okay… that's… definitely weird and not great. I'll see what I can find out about that too."
"Thanks," Sasuke grumbled.
"That everything?"
"Yeah…" Sasuke paused. "No. There's one last thing."
"Which is…?"
"Brother's stopped eating."
I closed my mouth.
"You should have led with that one."
Sasuke furrowed his brows. "Is it bad?"
Sasuke was a picky eater. He didn't think much of food, but he never lost appetite either. He didn't understand much about it.
"That one… can be very bad," I said, feeling sweat down my neck.
Sasuke was used to Itachi being absent at the family table, but lately the absences had been happening a lot more often. It was doubly unusual because Itachi had been mostly home too.
"He's been off duty. For the past week, anyway. It was your father's idea."
"My dad…?"
"Yeah. He kept insisting Brother's unwell and wouldn't leave us alone until Mother listened. His temperature is normal though. I don't know why my parents agreed, but that's why he's home."
Sasuke seemed extra mopey at the idea of Itachi home yet still not being able to spend time with him.
"That's everything I know," Sasuke said.
He seemed to feel slightly better having gotten everything off his chest.
I still needed a minute to recover from the last one.
"I guess I should tell you what I know too," I said.
"You know something?" Sasuke asked, skeptical.
"I do, actually. And I think it might be related… to all this."
Apparently, Sasuke hadn't been aware the village had rejected Itachi as the next Hokage.
Hearing that, Sasuke looked stunned. He dropped the stick.
"What!" he demanded, jumping up.
"Yeah…"
"Who else are they going to pick if not Brother. There's no one better than him."
"I'm glad I'm not the only one who assumed the strongest ninja just became Hokage."
"He's literally perfect!"
Sasuke was taking this news a lot harder than I had.
"Has Konoha gone stupid?!"
"Maybe it's an age thing."
"Since when has that ever mattered!"
"The Third doesn't want to retire yet?"
"He should! He's clearly gone senile!"
"Eh, the village is still running—"
"Do you know Brother's record?"
"Do I want to know—"
"One hundred percent."
"That wasn't surprising."
"Do you know who else has a perfect success rate?"
"I'm guessing you're going to tell me."
"No one. No one has pulled that off. In the entire history of the village. And no one will ever pull that off again, because no one can reach Brother's level. It's unobtainable."
"You're talking like Itachi is a god," I said, sweating.
"Because he is," Sasuke yelled. "You're just too mediocre to get it. Mediocre people can't comprehend it. The actual gap between him and anyone. How impossible it is to follow him. How stupid you look even trying to compare!"
Something told me this wasn't about Itachi anymore.
Sasuke screamed. "This is the stupidest news I've ever heard!"
"Pretty sure there are stupider—"
"This is the worst thing to ever happen!"
"Pretty sure there are worse—"
"How could this have happened!"
"Fate is… fating…"
I mouthed a silent thank you to the skies.
Sasuke paced back and forth.
"This is it. This explains everything."
"It… does?"
"Why Brother's upset. Why Father's upset. As we should!"
"Should we…?"
"I understand everything now."
"I don't think we know why Shisui's missing…"
Sasuke waved me off. He had stopped caring about Shisui.
He stopped pacing and sharply turned to me.
"It's good you're back."
I beamed.
"You're a girl. You can comfort him and… talk about the feelings stuff. You need to tell him it's not him, it's the village. They've lost their minds. We all know there can only be one Hokage, and it has to be him."
My eye twitched.
I let it go.
"Sure. I will go talk to him… about the feelings stuff."
Sasuke looked fully relieved now, like all the weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
"Thanks, Sister Ayae."
I blinked.
I had a fat, wobbly smile.
"Anytime, Sasuke."
