AN: New chapter.
Shisui Uchiha glanced to the pink-haired Genin next to him, had volunteered to be her escort to and from the meeting while Itachi was out on another mission. It was a miracle he had managed to plan this all in a night, meet with the Genin the same day he had left the village. As much as his friend wanted to be here, there was nothing else he could do now. Even if he cut the mission down to four days, he'd still had been unable to attend this final meeting.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" He couldn't help but ask before they walked into the, hopefully figurative, lion's den.
"Why wouldn't I be sure?" Sakura answered his question with not only a question but a mischievous smile. She had a plan. A probably insane plan.
"If you don't think you should be then maybe you shouldn't." Shisui spared her another look before he headed down the street.
Sakura had been the one to agree to this meeting after all. Sasuke wouldn't be with her, was actually with Sai for today. The Genin had seemingly roped her Jonin-sensei into keeping him busy. The last time Shisui had checked in on him, he was busy making something close to a winter wonderland for the kids under Sai's care. After he had seen that, he had grabbed Sakura and led her to the Uchiha District.
In no time at all, the two stood outside of the home of the Uchiha Clan Head: Fugaku Uchiha.
More than one officer from the Military Police Force stood at the door. All of their Sharingan followed Sakura as she skipped up to the steps.
"Hello!" She offered a wave with one gloved hand. "I'm here to see Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha." Her smile was off. "You should let me in." She didn't need to reach for the sword at her side. She hadn't taken her hand off the hilt since she had stepped foot into the district.
"The agreement was for all parties to arrive unarmed." Inabi Uchiha was the one who spoke. Neither he or Itachi liked the man. Not the least of which was because his son, Taiko, was one of Sasuke's chief bullies. With him were two other high-ranking officers, Yashiro and Tekka Uchiha.
"Oh! How could I forget?" Sakura unbuckled the sword from her waist, handed it off to Shisui with a smile. "Hold this for me? I would give it to one of them but I don't trust any of these three."
Shisui couldn't say he disagreed with her.
Tekka was the father of Keiko, another of Sasuke's tormentor. She was part of Nana's gang of awful girls.
And Yashiro's son was Hideo. The worst of them all.
"No problem." Shisui almost wanted one of them to rise to the obvious bait, to try and attack her. He would take pleasure in beating all three of them down. He was sure Itachi would be jealous of him having the chance to put any of the three in their place. They had both wanted to beat them down for years.
The three may not have liked it but they didn't make such a clear mistake.
They knew he was stronger than them at least and that put an end to any plans they had of immediate retribution. Even if they did try something later, Shisui was sure Sakura could handle herself against all three of them if need be.
"This way." Inabi turned and headed inside, Yashiro and Tekka wordlessly falling into step behind him with one last parting glare. Sakura waved at them before turning to Shisui.
That mischievous smile was back.
'She's definitely planning something.' He didn't know what but he was interested in seeing what exactly it was.
He was sure all of the Uchiha inside had it coming.
Sakura ignored every look she received in the crowded home, didn't so much as bat an eye at the fair number of powerful Shinobi who glared at her with the infamous Dojutsu of the Uchiha Clan. She skipped her way through the halls she had only been in once.
Shisui followed after her and couldn't help but admire her attitude a little.
'She knew exactly what she would be walking into.' He reassessed his opinion of the Genin. 'But she's here anyway.'
All too soon, they reached where Fugaku and Mikoto were waiting.
Shisui couldn't read either of the two. The only tell that they were angry was the fact that both had their Sharingan active.
"Hi Ex-Parents!" Sakura dropped down into her spot across from them, waved at the two. "What did you want to talk about?"
Shisui took his spot on the wall behind Sakura, wouldn't interfere or voice his thoughts for this meeting. He was her escort and, if necessary, her guard. That was all he was here for.
'Let's see how this goes.' He kept her surrendered sword in hand as he crossed his arms over his chest.
Mikoto was the first to speak.
"You will relinquish guardianship of Sasuke immediately."
"Nope!" Sakura went so far as to stick her tongue out. "Next."
"You little-" Mikoto stopped herself from giving in to her anger. She glared at the girl across from her. "What gives you the right to take our son from us? You can't begin to understand the sacrifices we've made for him! He's my son, I'm his mother! Not you and not whatever ridiculous game you're playing with him." She wasn't shouting but her words were dripping with rage, with her utter disdain for all of this.
"Then you should've acted like a mom, Ex-Mom." It sounded like Sakura was rolling her eyes. "Sasuke wasn't happy here. He's happy now. That should be all that matters to you but it doesn't."
"You have no idea what it means to be a mother. He doesn't belong to you! He's my son and he belongs in this home. He chose to be unhappy here! If he had come to us with his problems instead of relying only on Itachi, none of this would have ever happened!" Mikoto still wasn't screaming but she was close to pounding her fist on the table. "He needs to stop this game and come home."
"I won't let him come back to this place." Sakura glanced around the room, actually grimaced at nothing but the walls around the table. "All these cold walls and empty halls? He doesn't deserve to suffer here. I think a prison is too kind to describe what your home is like to Sasuke. He's suffered inside here for years and I refuse to let him come back just to go through it all again."
"'Suffer'? He had everything a child needed! If he's anything, he's spoiled! I raised him like I should and you will not condemn my parenting! You're not a mother, you're nothing but a little girl playing pretend and I won't have my son be a part of it!" Mikoto's voice was rising in volume, the Uchiha had clearly been bottling up her emotions at the situation over the past weeks.
"He had everything but love here. The only two who cared for him, who supported him, who were there for him, were Itachi and Shisui. When he cried, he went to them. When he smiled, it was because of them. When he needed someone, he went to them. You call yourself a mother but you're not one! That's why you're his Ex-Mom. Good Moms don't treat kids the way you treated Sasuke! They wouldn't ever make him feel the way you made him feel every day!" Sakura clearly knew more than Shisui thought.
'Did Itachi tell her?' It was the only explanation for her knowing that Sasuke came to one of them for all of his issues. That or she was making a wild guess.
And, unfortunately, she was right.
"I love my son. I love both my sons no matter how much they decide to frustrate me with their behavior! Itachi and his secrets! His constant attitude with the two of us and the Clan! Sasuke and his ridiculous Kekkei Genkai! Even with the shame it's brought the Clan, I never once thought of tossing him out. They're both still my sons and they belong in this house. So he had a less than perfect childhood? That doesn't give him permission to behave like a brat! He doesn't see everything we've given up for him."
"A real mom wouldn't call what makes her son special a shame." Sakura did scoff this time, narrowed her eyes at Mikoto. "I bet you don't even know what it's called. He never told you."
"Because he is obsessed with behaving like his brother and keeping everything a secret."
"No. He trust his brother. Just like how he trusts Shisui. Like how he trusts Sai-sensei. Like he trusts Naruto. And like how he trusts me. We all know the name even if he hasn't gone up to the Shinobi Board yet to announce it. He trusts us with it because we don't judge him for what makes him different, don't scold him for being different. We don't make him feel less for being who he is. And we don't try to fix him when he doesn't need it!"
"I was saving him from being a fr-"
"Mikoto! That is enough." Fugaku stopped her even if the damage was done.
Sakura's green eyes had turned cold with rage.
In a moment, the rage that had been guiding Mikoto's words was gone. A look of horror came to her face as she realized what she had almost said, what she had considered her son to be for so long.
"I…I wouldn't…" She was at a loss. She fell silent.
"You already treated him like one." Sakura turned to the silent Fugaku. Even Shisui had forgotten about him as Mikoto and Sakura had argued back and forth. "What about you? Do you have anything to say?"
'Are you going to say anything?' Shisui was painfully familiar with how often Fugaku chose to ignore any situation involving Sasuke. He had the misfortune of a front-row seat to how Fugaku allowed everyone to treat Sasuke like an outcast without lifting a finger for years. Without even doing so much as raising his voice against them. 'Are you going to do anything for your son for once?'
Black eyes looked from Mikoto to Sakura.
"The list of names has been prepared." Shisui didn't even bother to be surprised. Like always, he chose to do nothing. "Six cadets have volunteered to take part in the combat portion of the Classification Exam. Kosuke, Chie, Ryoka, Taiko, Nana, and Hideo Uchiha will report to the Board tomorrow for review."
Green eyes met black.
Shisui didn't know if they carried the same disappointment in his eyes or rage.
"You two should've never had children." Sakura rose from her seat with what she had come to this awful home for. She didn't both laughing or mocking the two, didn't complete her plan of making them lose their tempers so she could embarrass them. It didn't matter. Not anymore. She spared a glance to both of the Uchiha in front of her, couldn't decide if she wanted to feel rage or pity for the two of them, for what they had allowed themselves to become:
A woman of bottled-up resentment.
A man too scared to show his feelings.
"Let's go."
The first thing she did once she saw Sasuke again was hug him tight. Just one of the countless hugs he had missed out on thanks to his childhood.
She hugged Naruto too.
AN: Debated whether or not to post this. Decided to.
Review/PM if you want.
Peace.
