XXIII: Truth
Itachi stepped through the scattered pile of broken, rotting wood. His Sharingan scanned through the old wreckage, finding tiny fragments of shattered ninja tools. There was no doubt in the Uchiha's mind that this was the site of one of Forth Hokage's old safe houses, destroyed not by the passage of years but by a fiery explosion.
With a blink the Uchiha deactivated his Sharingan. He turned to see his mother crouching in the middle of the wreckage, holding a piece of wood.
"Found something?" Itachi asked.
"It's a piece of a crib," Mikoto answered. "This was meant for Naruto."
Itachi wasn't surprised by the idea of a crib being at this safe house, he and Jiraiya had found a few at some of the other safe houses they had uncovered. It seemed that Minato had several placed just in case the birth turned dangerous after the delivery so he could leave Naruto someplace safe.
Mikoto took a deep breath, closing her fist around the piece of wood and holding it to her forehead.
"Is something wrong, Mother?" Itachi asked with concern.
"I wish I had known, I wish I had done...something," the Uchiha matriarch answered. "It's unfair what Kushina went through, and it was unfair to Minato and Naruto too. I should have been there more."
Itachi stayed silent, unsure what he should say in response to that. It wasn't her fault, he knew that, and he was sure that no one, least of all Naruto and his parents, blamed her. Yet he couldn't find a way to say that in way that felt natural. So instead he did what he always did, and turned his mind to the task at hand.
He gave a quick, reassuring pat on his mother's shoulder before walking over to Jiraiya and Shisui. The two shinobi were standing over a patch of broken ground, though enough time had passed that the grass was starting to grow over it.
"This was caused by Minato's Rasengan, he fought someone here," Jiraiya proclaimed. "I'm sure of it."
Shisui glanced around, examining the years old site. "Are you sure about that, Master Jiraiya? Something definitely happened here, but for all we know it could have happened after the Fourth passed."
"Call it a gut feeling," Jiraiya responded.
"I don't mean too-" Shisui began before Itachi stepped in and put his hand on his clansman's shoulder to stop him.
"This is likely the best we can hope for," Itachi commented. "Besides, this location is so isolated that I doubt anybody but us has been here since the Fourth."
"Ah, you're probably right," Shisui said, nodding. "What do you think, Kakashi?"
The ANBU captain had been off to the side, conversing with Pakkun as the talking hound communicated what the other hounds had noticed over the course of the search. He dismissed Pakkun before turning to address his fellow shinobi.
"I've had my hounds continue to comb the surrounding areas while we converged and investigated here," he said. "They haven't found anything more, so I think Itachi's assessment is the correct one. Let's head home and tell Lord Hokage we've found as good of evidence as we can hope to find."
Naruto took a couple steps forward. Then a couple steps backs. Then a couple forward again, all the while nervously holding the stolen picture book in his hands.
Sasuke put his hand firmly on his friend's shoulder, stopping his looping path. "Just go," he said, gesturing to where Sai stood a sort distance down the Academy hallway they were standing in. Naruto gave a nervous nod before gripping the unfinished picture book in his hands and making the short walk to Sai.
The stoic boy noticed Naruto approaching him out of the corner of his eye. "Do you need something?" he asked dispassionately. He didn't turn to face the blonde, such was the level of disinterest Sai had in him.
"Well, um, you see," Naruto said, clearly nervous to admit to his guilt. "Here!" he finally blurted out, holding the book out to Sai.
The dark haired boy glanced down at the book and in the space of a few seconds displayed more emotion than he had in his entire time at the Academy. Instantly his eyes went wide with shock, followed by panic as he frantically wrenched open his locker and pawed about for something that was no longer there. Then there was anger as Sai turned back to Naruto, snatching the book with one hand while using the other to aggressively point at the blonde thief.
"How-?!" he blurted out, unable to form a sentence in the torrent of emotions he was experiencing. "Why-?" he began again before running into the same problem.
It was at this point that Sasuke decided to step in. "Naruto wanted to play a prank you," he explained. "But first he wanted to learn more about you, so that he could come up with something that would really get at you. He stole that book because it was the only thing he could find that was actually yours."
Sai went placid, staring at the little book in his hand.
"That's you and your brother, isn't it?" Sasuke asked.
"Yes," Sai answered before realization lit up his eyes. "But, how would you know that?"
Sasuke shrugged before giving the best answer he could give. "I don't know. I just looked at it and that's what it felt like. I have an older brother, so I think i kind of understood what this was supposed to be at least a little."
Sai nodded slowly before he began to speak. "He's not really my brother, he was an older kid at the same...orphanage. But he always looked out for me, and at some point we just started calling each other brother."
"Well, we figured it probably meant a lot to you, so we decided to give it back," Naruto said. Sasuke could not help but notice that his friend had said 'we' when Naruto was the one who had taken it and Sasuke was the one who insisted on returning it. But Sasuke chose to let it pass.
"So," the blonde continued, leaning ever so slightly closer to Sai. "When are you going to give it to your brother?"
"Oh, that," Sai said. While stoic boy's previous display of emotion had been an explosion of expression, it was brief. Now though, it hung on his face for an extended period, and this time it was sadness. "That...that won't ever happen."
Sasuke stared at the book, at the clear effort that had gone into it. "Why?" he asked simply, his voice even in tone despite the emotions springing up within him.
Sai glanced up at the Uchiha before returning his attention to the picture book. "My brother is very sick, but we only found out after we left the orphanage. Or rather, the rest of us only found out then. He'd been keeping it a secret. Didn't...didn't want me to worry."
"Well, I'm sure he'll get better soon!" Naruto said with a smile. Sasuke could tell that the expression was a performance put on for Sai's benefit.
Sai shook his head. "No. The doctors said that...that it's something that he might never recover from and...that it will probably end up killing him."
"All the more reason to give it to him then!" Naruto exclaimed gesturing wildly. "I bet he'd be super happy to get one last gift from you!"
"Would he, or would he just consider it cruel?" Sai asked, his hand moving to cover his tortured looking face. "I'm afraid these kinds of emotions...escape me."
All of a sudden Naruto grabbed Sai by the wrist and began dragging him down the hall.
"Um, where are we going?" the stoic boy asked with a calmness that belied his current situation.
"We're going straight to the hospital!" Naruto proclaimed. "You're going to give your gift to your brother, and he's going to love it!"
Sasuke blinked as he watched his friend drag the boy he had been dead set on pranking down the hall. He paused, realizing that Sai's locker had been left open. After a moment's consideration, he gently closed it.
"These findings are far from conclusive," the Third Hokage commented, reading over the report that he had in front of him. "However, I can't say that I was expecting undeniable proof considering the circumstances we find ourselves in."
"That was our conclusion as well, Sir," Kakashi answered for the team. The rest of them stood around the Hokage's office, carefully listening for potential eves-droppers even as they kept tabs on the debriefing.
The Hokage nodded, sage like, before scanning the room and observing the gathered Shinobi.
"While we will not reveal anything that we have discussed in this room to the public, those of us here as well as a few other selected individuals in the village hierarchy should act under the assumption that there was a human agent behind the Nine-Tails attack, one that could fight on even footing with the Fourth Hokage," Sarutobi stated. "We do not have enough information to act, nor can we ascertain this villain's true identity, but that is better than the complete ignorance we operating under previously."
"What is our course of action now, Sarutobi-sensei?" Jiraiya asked
The Hokage paused, reaching for his pipe, lighting it, and taking a single pull from it as he considered the situation. "We do not have enough information to develop any concrete plan, but we can assume that this enemy is operating in the shadows, out of eyes of Shinobi world. If we also believe that he was involved in the plot of the Uchiha rogues, we can assume that he is looking to operate through other agents."
The others nodded, agreeing the experienced Hokage's assessment.
"As such, we should remain vigilant against unusual activity on the part of other Shinobi villages, or of new organizations rising to the fore," the Hokage continued.
That statement seemed to mean something Jiraiya, who stepped forward to speak. "Actually, that reminds me of something, a group that might be what we're looking for."
"Something you've encountered on your travels?" Sarutobi asked.
"I wouldn't say encountered, more heard whispers, but I've been meaning to talk to you about them for a while. A mercenary group calling themselves the Akutsuki," Jiraiya explained. "Up until recently they were small time, taking on jobs in areas where no Hidden Village operates, but recently they've started to make more of a name for themselves. Bigger contracts, but more importantly they've started recruiting some big names. Rogue Shinobi, infamous ones with real body counts; including our old friend Orochimaru."
With that name now hanging in air the atmosphere of the room shifted. Sarutobi frowned at the mention of his former student, while the others tensed at the idea of the rogue Sannin. Even Jiraiya, having mentioned it himself, seemed grimly determined.
"I see," the Hokage said, lacing his fingers together under his chin. "Orochimaru's involvement alone would make this group worthy of investigation. But one such he would not agree to work with someone unless either he could use them, they had something of value to offer him, or they had such overwhelming power that not even he could stay out of their grasp."
"My thoughts exactly," Jiraiya replied. "So what is our next move?"
The question brought an idea to Itachi's mind, something that on the surface seemed wild and crazy but at the same time he could see himself doing it. "I can infiltrate their organization, become a double agent," he offered, stepping forward to address the Hokage.
Sarutobi gazed at the young Uchiha, assessing him. "I believe you would be capable of that, and I have no doubt your loyalty to the village would hold true," the sage-like village leader commented. "However, I believe your role in your clan is too important. We cannot risk the situation with the Uchiha becoming destabilized."
"I understand, Lord Hokage," Itachi responded with a bow of his head. "I apologize for my rash suggestion."
"Think nothing of it, and it is true that we should find some way to keep tabs on this Akutsuki," Sarutobi said. "Kakashi, Jiraiya, I believe we should discuss options for ANBU surveillance at another time."
Jiraiya and Kakashi both nodded, assenting to the Hokage's suggestion.
"That will be all then," Sarutobi said. "Dismissed."
The others began to move out of the Hokage's office, Itachi among them. As he reached the door, however, he realized that his mother wasn't. He looked over his shoulder to see Mikoto standing before Sarutobi's desk.
"Was there something else you wanted to discuss?" the elderly leader asked.
"Yes, Lord Hokage, there is," the Uchiha matron answered. "But to tell you the truth, it is more of a personal request."