Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ After the Dream ❯ Somewhere Over the Rainbow ( Chapter 23 )

~b~ normal story

~B~ flash backs

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

“What is it Hinata?” Hyuuga Hiashi asked. He didn't particularly appreciate his training with Hanabi being interrupted, but he assumed it would be important if Hinata had actually sought them out.

“I was wondering when Hanabi would be finished with training for the day?” Hinata asked politely.

“May I ask why?” Hiashi asked, looking between his daughters in confusion.

Hinata was interrupted when Neji called in from outside, “Have you found her yet?”

“Hold on, I'm asking now,” Hinata called back before turning to her father. “Several of the students from Hanabi's class at the academy were wondering if she would like to come train with all of us today. Normally Moegi-chan is the only girl her age in the group, so I offered to see if Hanabi would like to come along,” Hinata explained.

Hanabi blinked in surprise and turned to her father waiting for an answer. It wasn't every day that she was invited to spend time with her peers. “Who are the other students?” Hiashi finally asked.

“Konohamaru, Udon, Inari, and Rishito,” Hinata responded.

“I've never heard of a Rishito in her class,” Hiashi countered.

“Chiyu Rishito transferred in last January. Before that he was taught by his mother,” Hanabi chimed in.

Hiashi looked at her for a moment, before deciding to let her off for the day. “She can go if she wishes,” he said.

Hanabi turned to her sister and nodded. “Come on, Neji nii-san is waiting outside,” Hinata said, leading the way.

“How often do you train with them?” Hanabi asked cautiously as she followed her sister and cousin out of the Hyuuga complex.

“They come by and visit our training sessions occasionally when they aren't in school. Since they had the entire day off today, we invited them to come down and actually participate,” Hinata answered, smiling at her sister. Hanabi turned away, and Neji was convinced his youngest cousin was jealous. As if sensing this Hinata continued, “We would have invited you before, but this was the first time we've actually planned it and you weren't training.”

“Neji-san are you training with your team again?” Hanabi asked.

“Since I was promoted I've split my time between training with Hiashi-sama, training with my friends, and doing missions,” Neji said. Hinata was trying not to smile; this was the first time the three cousins had actually had a conversation. Hanabi was normally too shy to speak with them often.

“Aren't the Chuunin Exams coming up?” Hanabi asked turning to Hinata.

“They start in Suna in two weeks. My team has been working with a new member for two months so that we would be ready to take it,” Hinata answered, “We leave in a week.”

When they arrived at the training ground, the first thing Hanabi noticed was the large group assembled. It seemed that the five other academy students had managed to convince not only Hinata and Neji's teams, but also the other surviving Genin team from Hinata's year and their senseis to join them. She wondered if it was difficult for them to gather like this knowing that their friends couldn't join them. “Oi! It took you long enough,” her sister's teammate shouted, his dog loped over to them and began running playful circles around the three Hyuuga's.

“But we all just got here too,” Moegi said in confusion, before being hushed by Kiba.

“So what do you all want to do?” Ino asked, ignoring the others.

“Train!” Konohamaru shouted.

Asuma quirked an eyebrow at his eagerness, he didn't know where the kid got it from. “Oi, idiots!” he heard someone shout at the edge of the clearing. Asuma turned to find Anko, Iruka, and Genma waving at them. “We'll leave it to you then,” he mumbled to his students and their friends. He could hear them beginning as he, Gai, and Kurenai made their way over to the others.

Several hours later, the adults' conversation had traveled on to the events of the past week. “Is Rin even still in Konoha? I haven't seen her since that night in the bar,” Kurenai claimed.

“I don't see why she would have left so soon,” Gai countered.

“Well it would be fairly easy to find out,” Anko snickered, rolling her eyes to the side so that she could see Rishito sparring against Udon. Either Rishito had inherited his mother's talent or Udon just sucked, because according to Konohamaru's yelling Rishito had already beaten the poor kid five times.

“So who's going to ask?” Genma finally inquired, as their spar wore down. When Rishito was declared victor by Kiba, Anko sighed and walked over.

“Oi! You're Rin's kid, right?” she asked. Rishito turned and looked at her in surprise for a moment before nodding. “Is she still here?” Anko asked.

“Who are you?” Rishito blurted out, squinting his eyes at her. “Hey, you look like that chick that came to visit with d… Kakashi. Mom was really angry after you left,” he said.

“Yeah, well the news we brought was pretty bad. So is your mom here?” she asked again.

“I still don't know who you are,” Rishito stated.

Several of the Genin and Chuunin laughed as Anko's eye twitched. “Mitarashi Anko…” she said.

“Oh!” Rishito shouted, cutting Anko off before she could explain that she was an old friend of Rin's. “You're that cra-” whatever else he was about to say was stifled when a hand covered his mouth.

“I don't think Rin would appreciate you repeating that,” Itachi muttered from behind Rishito. The younger boy strained his neck to look upwards and he smiled when he saw that it was Itachi.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Anko asked. The adoring looks Itachi was getting from every female but Hinata and Kurenai were pissing her off again.

Upon hearing Anko's outburst the other adults looked over at the scene curiously. “What's Itachi doing here?” Kurenai asked. The others shrugged and made their way over to the group.

“What's up?” Rishito asked, turning around to face Itachi.

“I got bored; your mother will probably head over in a bit,” he said.

Anko snorted at Itachi's reply and turned back to Rishito. “What were you about to call me?” she asked, leaning in towards him.

Rishito squeaked and took a step back as he reached out for Itachi. “Anko I don't really think you need to scare him,” Iruka said, stepping up next to her.

“Iruka-sensei!” Konohamaru shouted happily, “You know her?” he asked looking back between Anko and Iruka. Anko was still glaring at Rishito as he cowered slightly. “Yes,” Iruka replied before turning back to Anko.

“What were you going to call me?” Anko asked Rishito again.

“Yes Rishito, what were you going to call her?” Rin asked walking up next to Anko.

“N-Nothing,” Rishito stuttered, gulping thickly. He could hear Kakashi and Itachi chuckling behind him and he turned to glare at them.

“Well okay then,” Rin said, turning to smile at Anko.

“That brat of yours was calling me crazy,” Anko said furiously, turning to Rin.

Rin raised an eyebrow at Anko's anger; she glanced at Rishito from the corner of her eye and winked. “Anko you are crazy; we established that when you were about fourteen,” Rin responded; Anko glared at her slack-jawed. Several of the rookies snickered, but the other adults were staring at Rin in surprise.

“Rin,” Genma finally said, nodding to her.

“Hello,” Rin said to the others before turning back to Rishito.

“Do I have to leave?” Rishito asked.

“No, I just came to watch,” Rin responded.

“Woohoo!” Rishito cheered, turning back to his friends. While the academy students and rookies went back to training the adults turned back to Rin.

“So how long are you staying this time?” Anko asked.

“Another week or so,” Rin responded.

The adults lapsed into silence watching as Kiba and Chouji attempted to help the academy students perfect their Bunshin techniques. All the questions they had wanted to ask slipped out of their minds despite the fact the only people who could answer them were now standing just feet away. As they moved on to weapons training, Asuma and Gai turned back to the students to supervise. Rin, Kakashi, and Itachi also drifted away and were conversing in quiet voices several meters away from the others. Occasionally they would glance back at the training students and point something out to one another, but most of the time they kept to themselves.

After about half an hour, Rishito took a break from training with the others and walked over to his mother. “So was I doing good?” he asked, grinning up at Rin.

“Wonderful,” she responded.

“So when can I fight you?” he asked catching his friends' attention.

“I thought we had a deal; you can fight me when you've beaten these two,” Rin said, pointing to Itachi and Kakashi who smirked down at him.

Behind them Konohamaru snorted. “Why would you want to fight a girl?” he shouted, gaining glares from most of the females around him. Ino, who was the closest, smacked him over the head.

Rin smiled over at them but turned back to Rishito. “Have you gotten any better at tree climbing?” she asked.

Rishito grinned and turned to run at the closest tree. The rest of the adults watched as well as he took off. When he reached the tree, he shocked his friends by continuing to run up the trunk. About three meters off the ground and he grabbed onto a branch and sat down grinning at the others. “That was good, but you started to slip at the end there. I'm guessing that's why you grabbed onto the branch,” Kakashi stated.

Rishito grinned and hopped back down to head over to his friends. “That was so cool,” Moegi squealed. “It was almost like the time Naruto walked on water at the demonstrations.”

“It's the same thing,” Rishito said, “Well almost.”

“How do you do it?” Konohamaru asked slyly.

“You channel chakra into your feet. You have to generate the appropriate amount to stick to the tree,” surprisingly this answer came not from Rishito but from Hanabi.

“Can you do it?” Moegi asked, turning to the other girl. Hanabi nodded in response.

“Let's see it,” Konohamaru dared.

Hanabi shrugged and walked up to the tree Rishito had used. With a smaller running start she made it up to a branch two meters above Rishito's starting point. “Ah man, you're way better than me,” Rishito whined, pouting over at his mother.

“It's not surprising. She's probably been taught chakra control techniques since she was small. Most clans with a blood line limit do,” Rin explained.

“Your knowledge is as wide as always, Chiyu-san,” Hyuuga Hiashi said as he walked up to the group.

“Hyuuga-sama,” Rin said stiffly, with an equally stiff bow in his direction.

“The council was quite impressed with the news of your work,” Hiashi said.

“I'm sure they were,” Rin replied wryly.

“The Hyuuga elders have asked me to extend and invitation to you for tonight. They have some business they would like to discuss with you,” he continued. It was rather easy for the others to see that Rin was not pleased with the invitation. “This will explain some of it to you; it will be up to you to come,” he said before turning to Hanabi, Hinata, and Neji. “I'm afraid it's time for the three of you to come home now,” he said.

The three bowed and quickly said their goodbyes as Rin continued to gaze at the unopened scroll in her hand. “I wanna learn how to climb trees like that,” Moegi finally said when the Hyuuga's had disappeared from sight.

“Rishito, why don't you teach your friends? The Genin can help,” Kakashi suggested turning back to Rin.

While they began working on their assigned exercise, Rin slowly unrolled the scroll and read through it. Kurenai and Iruka wandered over to the bunch of trees where the students were practicing. “Iruka-sensei, why don't we learn this in the Academy?” Moegi asked, as she rested on the ground in front of tree. Judging by the kunai marks on the tree she had managed to make it up about two meters. The others weren't fairing much better.

“It used to be; however, in the past ten years or so more specified skills such as this have been reserved for Jounin sensei to work on with their students,” Iruka explained.

“Why?” Rishito asked, “Isn't it more difficult to use most jutsu without proper chakra control?”

“Yes it is; however, it is believed that most academy students do not have the correct chakra reserves to dedicate themselves to this task,” Iruka said.

“Well that's stupid, their reserves won't grow if they don't work on it,” Rishito mumbled in return, causing Iruka to stifle a chuckle.

“Is that true?” Inari asked. “I remember when Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were working with us they learned how to do this,” he added quietly.

“I bet Naruto didn't have any trouble with it,” Konohamaru remarked, glaring up at the tree he was attempting to climb.

“It took him a week of non-stop training,” Itachi corrected walking up to the group. “You keep falling because you're not expelling enough chakra,” he commented to Udon as he once again fell after only two steps.

“Ha, then it must have taken those other two, two weeks to get it right,” Konohamaru proclaimed.

“Actually, my understanding was that Sakura accomplished it on her first try and Sasuke took as long as Naruto,” Itachi countered smirking at him.

“Yeah, but Sakura never had enough reserves to compete with them once they had mastered it,” Shikamaru stated lazily, watching Moegi make it up three meters before slipping off.

“No one below Chuunin level had the chakra reserves to compete with them,” Kurenai said, surprising the group.

“Go Moegi!” Ino and TenTen cheered as the younger girl managed to brush a branch nearly three meters off the ground.

“That's impressive,” Kurenai commented. “With that type of chakra control you should consider genjutsu or healing as specialty later on,” she added.

Moegi stood shakily but immediately removed her weight off of her right ankle. She turned to look at Ino and TenTen nervously. “I think I did something to my ankle,” she said sheepishly.

“Rishito, go get your mother,” Itachi ordered. TenTen sat Moegi back down and Itachi bent down to examine her ankle. “Give Rin a moment. It looks sprained so she'll be able to take care of it easily,” he said standing back up.

“Rishito's mom is a Medic Nin?” Konohamaru asked. “I didn't think she was even a shinobi,” he added in confusion.

“She's not anymore, but she was a Jounin before she left the village,” Itachi explained.

“Left the village?” Shikamaru questioned, gaining a weak glare from Itachi.

“Bad landing?” Rin asked, walking up to Moegi and ignoring the conversation topic. Moegi nodded sheepishly. Rin looked it over quickly before healing it. When Moegi attempted to stand back up, Rin restrained her. “Stay off your ankle for about an hour. It's susceptible to injury so soon after being healed,” she explained, standing up. Moegi nodded and remained seated.

“Rishito, we need to get going,” Rin said, nodding in Kakashi's direction. Rishito chirped his goodbye's and followed Rin and Itachi over to the waiting Jounin.

“So what's going on tonight?” Rishito asked as they headed away from the training field.

“I have a meeting in a few hours, and Mitsutori is running some errands; so you're sticking with Kakashi and Itachi tonight,” Rin said.

“Can we train?” Rishito begged, turning to Kakashi and Itachi happily.

“Why don't we just eat dinner?” Kakashi suggested.

“Fine,” Rishito muttered, pouting.

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Three hours later, Rin inspected herself in the mirror. Kakashi and Itachi were teaching Rishito a new card game. She smoothed down the front of the kimono that she had borrowed from Mitsutori and was reminded why she hated dressing formally. Unfortunately for her, a formal meeting with a clan's elders required formal wear. “I'll be back when I'm done,” she said, waving goodbye as she walked out the door.

Rin slowly made her way to Hyuuga compound. She hated dealing with these large clans. Last time she had dealt with one, she had ended up having to leave Konoha. Unfortunately that damn scroll intrigued her. Who would have thought that the Hyuuga Clan would seek help to remove the curse seal from the branch members? “There's got to be a catch,” she muttered as she stepped up to the main entrance where a young Hyuuga was waiting for her.

She followed him into the meeting room and kneeled across from the gathered elders. Rin's eyes gazed over the elderly faces with borderline contempt, nearly mirroring the expression they were sending her. Seated in the middle of the elders was Hiashi. Rin slid her eyes to his right expecting to see the heir to the clan and was surprised to see not one person but three. She recognized all three from the training field earlier that day; suddenly she wished she hadn't come. The last thing she needed was to involve herself with a troubled clan.

“I'm going to start assuming you read through and understood our invitation,” a wizened old woman on Rin's far left began. Rin nodded. “We'll provide you with all the information and support that you need to complete the task. Our only request - one I doubt you'll have a problem fulfilling - is that you not discuss this with the Hokage,” the woman finished.

Rin watched her for a moment before turning to gaze over the other faces in the room. The elders were all watching her expectantly; there was no doubt or hesitation on their faces. The youngest in the room, Hanabi, was trying not to show the confusion on her face. She most likely had no idea what was going on. Rin was turning back to the woman that had spoken when she caught the only reason to be truly worried. The two teens that had been at the field that day, Itachi had told her that their names were Hinata and Neji, glanced at each other over the top of Hanabi's head.

She turned back to Hiashi and studied him for a moment. “I'm sure the Hokage would be pleased to hear that the Hyuuga Clan is working to heal the rift between the main and branch families. I don't understand why you would want to keep it from her,” Rin stated. “Unless of course you don't intend to even attempt to fix it. How many people will benefit from this?” she asked.

The elder seated next to Neji, raised his hand and over Neji's head. “Neji-kun,” Rin seemed to be the only one to see the twin winces on Hinata and Neji's faces, “has proven himself to hold an exceptional talent. We have decided to leave the position of Hiashi's successor open to whoever among these three proves themselves most proficient,” he explained. Hanabi's eyes widened and she turned to stare at the man in shock.

“It's rather odd for such an ancient clan to break from tradition merely because one person proves exceptional,” Rin bit out.

“Are you refusing?” the elderly woman at the end asked.

“Yes,” Rin stated clearly, preparing to stand and leave.

“We're not finished yet,” the man next to Neji commanded.

“I've already refused; what else could we possible have to speak about?” Rin asked.

“It's fairly odd for you to be against this,” the woman said, looking closely at Rin.

“I don't believe in blatant favoritism,” Rin said, knowing it was a mistake. The elderly woman laughed out loud at her. “I also believe that were you to go through with this, it would solve nothing. It may free Neji; however, it will make him the target of those branch members that you saw as `unworthy'. In the end it won't help him at all,” Rin said, staring apologetically at Neji.

“It is not right for an outsider to criticize our ways. We are not asking you to solve what problems you think we have; we are simply asking you to do a job,” the man next to Neji said.

“I'd be more than willing to take a look at the seal and work on its removal. However, I will not take part in it if I believe it will end up hurting its receiver,” Rin explained.

“I can think of at least one instance where that isn't true. It's rather hypocritical of you. Refusing to bring harm to a stranger when that seal ruined the life of…” the elderly woman was cut off when Rin abruptly stood up and turned to leave.

“You have no right to speak of that. It's confidential information that more than half of this room isn't privy to. This conversation is now finished,” Rin said.

“I agree,” Hiashi said standing up; Hinata, Neji, and Hanabi all stood hastily following his example. “I apologize Chiyu-san,” he added shocking those gathered, “I asked you here not knowing what they intended, and I apologize that you were put through this.”

Rin took a deep breath and turned nodding her farewell before storming off the complex. By the time she slammed the door to Kakashi's apartment shut and woke up Rishito who had been napping on the couch, she was in tears.

After briefly speaking with Kakashi, Itachi, and Mitsutori the next morning, Rin hastily said goodbye to Rishito and left Konoha.

It took Anko a week to calm down and stop her rampage after once more being left behind.

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“Rin-san's been secretive ever since she came back,” Sakura stated as the three lounged under a tree at their new home. After Sasuke had recovered and Rin had headed off for Konoha, Kato had taken the three to town called Kumoma. The house prepared for them there was large. Kato claimed that it was often used by her family when they traveled so it was made to hold large numbers. It was theirs for as long as they decided to stay there.

“Hmm…maybe she's up to something,” Naruto said drowsily.

“Or something happened,” Sasuke countered.

“Or both,” Sakura interjected.

“She probably planned something with Kakashi-sensei and Itachi-teme while she was in Konoha,” Naruto decided after several thoughtful moments. All three turned suspiciously to the house. They could see Rin through the kitchen's window standing near the counter and talking to someone. “When are Kato and Daiki leaving?” Naruto asked.

“Why? I like her,” Sakura said.

“That's not what I meant. It's just that they left home and stuff to help us. I figured she would want to go back soon,” he explained.

“So you think they're coming soon?” Sasuke asked, bringing the conversation back to its original subject.

“Probably,” Naruto said nonchalantly. Sakura and Sasuke watched as wide grin slowly spread on his face as he realized what he had just said.

“Are we ready?” Sakura asked them nervously.

“I am,” Naruto stated firmly, still grinning.

“I am,” Sasuke added not so resolutely. His teammates glanced at him in sympathy knowing that he was nervous about what the meeting with his brother would bring.

“I am too,” Sakura finally decided, looking at the window with an inquisitive smile on her face. The other two followed her gaze and saw Rin watching them out of the corner of her eye.

“They'll be here soon,” Naruto stated firmly.

Half an hour later, Sasuke and Naruto had drifted off and Sakura was enjoying the silence by alternately watching clouds and gazing at the fall colors of the leaves. She suddenly realized why Shikamaru had adopted his quirky pastime. For the past five minutes she had been watching a particular cloud that bore an odd resemblance to a bowl of ramen. “Bowl's of ramen in clouds, Naruto's really rubbing off on me,” she muttered.

“Hmm… I think it looks like three lazy teenagers,” a voice said from the tree branch above their heads.

Sakura's breathing hitched for a moment, before she slowly shifted her gaze allowing a large but nervous smile to appear. “You're late Kakashi-sensei,” she quipped at him.

“Yo!” Kakashi said back, raising his hand in a small salute. He winked at her and turned back to his reading.

Sakura glanced at Naruto and Sasuke only to find both still sleeping. She stood up carefully before pushing a bit of chakra into her feet and launching herself at her sensei. Under normal circumstances she never would have hugged the normally aloof Jounin; she couldn't think of anyone that would call this circumstance normal.

“Kakashi-sensei!” she shouted excitedly as she latched onto his waist. Luckily Kakashi had good balance and managed to keep them both on their perch above the boys. Not that it helped a moment later when they were hit by another body. The three fell to a heap on the ground. Kakashi glanced down and came to the conclusion that the bright blond roots showing on the boy's head meant this was Naruto. That also meant that the boy two feet away trying to stop himself from laughing was Sasuke.

Sakura dislodged herself from the group hug and reached out to pull Sasuke over. Kakashi slowly disentangled himself from Naruto and smiled down at the three. While she was still in Konoha, Rin had mentioned that she had forbidden the three from redying their hair. As their roots had begun to show and the color faded, the three had been forced to resort to covering their hair when they were around those who didn't know who they were. Now that they were hidden away, Rin termed it their in-between period. They were no longer allowed to use the identities that they had created and would eventually make new ones - after they had had some time to be themselves.

Sasuke looked almost exactly as he had when he had left Konoha. His hair was almost back to its normal shade with only a few streaks of brown scattered about. He was also an inch or two taller. Sakura's hair was also nearing its old color. The pink roots were obvious and clashed with the fading brown that the rest of her hair maintained. His only female student had also grown an inch or so, but surprisingly she was now shorter than both of her teammates.

Naruto's growth was the most obvious of the three. He had obviously had one or two growth spurts over the past year and was only an inch shorter than Sasuke. Because of his light hair color he, like Sakura, still had fairly brown hair with bright blond roots sticking out. All three of his students were wearing rather plain brown and black clothing that had most likely allowed them to pass unseen through the masses as they traveled. He studied them for a bit longer wondering just how much they had been through and learned during their travels.

While Kakashi studied the trio, they studied him. Their sensei had of course changed very little; it was amazing how reassuring that simple fact was. It was also amazing just how unnerving his silence was to the three. Kakashi's offset gaze seemed to be slowly unhinging Naruto until the boy began to tremble. His trembling increased and served as the only outward sign of the anxiety all three were feeling.

Kakashi realized something was wrong when he felt Naruto once more latch onto his waist. He chuckled and set his hand on the boy's shoulder to pry him off when he heard a muffled sob. “Oi! What's wrong?” he asked looking from Naruto's shaking form to the suddenly silent duo in front of him. Sakura and Sasuke had both turned away and seemed to be refusing to meet his gaze. “Now this isn't fair, what did I do?” he asked a bit anxiously.

“I'm sorry,” Naruto mumbled as he choked on some of his tears. Sakura glanced at him sadly from the corner of her eye, but Sasuke remained unresponsive. Kakashi looked back down in confusion as Naruto repeated the phrase, “I'm sorry,” as if it was his mantra.

“What is going on?” Kakashi finally asked, pushing Naruto away enough that he could look at the blonde's face.

Naruto gazed up at his sensei and tried to wipe away a few of his tears. “I'm sorry we left you,” he finally stated.

Kakashi smiled down at Naruto and ruffled his hair before leading the boy to stand in between his former teammates. Once Naruto had settled down a bit and Sasuke and Sakura were looking at him again, Kakashi spoke. “I need to ask you three a question and I need you to answer honestly,” he said. They looked at him in confusion but nodded allowing him to go on. “Do any of you regret leaving?” he asked causing them to look at him sharply.

Sasuke glanced guiltily at Naruto, and Kakashi noticed Naruto refusing to meet anyone's eyes so he decided to rephrase his question. “Ignore all the consequences,” he stated, “Forget about everything surrounding your departures. Do you regret leaving?” he said firmly.

Sakura was the first to respond. She looked up at her former sensei and shook her head resolutely.

Sasuke followed actually voicing his decision. “No,” he stated.

“Me neither,” Naruto said quickly and surely right after Sasuke.

“Then you have nothing to apologize for,” Kakashi retorted. “Let them mourn and move on with their lives. You made a choice, and judging by your current conditions, I'd say it was the right one,” he added shocking them.

Naruto pondered Kakashi's words for a moment before looking back up at the man. “Would you be saying the same thing to us if you found out ten years down the road?” he asked.

“If I found out ten years down the road, I'd probably hunt you down and kick your asses,” Kakashi replied grinning at him. “But I'm special, so I found out now,” he added. Naruto snorted and smiled up at his sensei.

The silence that followed allowed all four to sit down and relax. It wasn't until fifteen minutes later that Sasuke began squirming a bit. He felt like he was being watched by an amateur. Naruto shifted uncomfortably beside him and turned to watch Kakashi. Kakashi was staring out over the lawn nonchalantly but Naruto thought he was being too relaxed.

A branch snapped in the tree above them and Naruto disappeared. Kakashi blinked when he heard a tiny yelp and then a crash. He moved quickly and caught their observer as he fell out of the tree. Rishito grinned nervously as Naruto landed behind Sakura and Sasuke. All three gave the young boy confused looks before Sakura's eyes brightened in recognition. “You're Rin's son, aren't you?” she said standing up.

Kakashi stood up as well, setting the boy back on his feet in front of the three. The younger boy nodded a bit nervously. “Rishito,” he offered. The three glanced at each other before Sakura spoke up. “I'm Sakura, that's Naruto and Sasuke,” she said. Rishito grinned at them before turning back to Kakashi. “It took you guys forever to figure out I was there. I'm getting better, aren't I?” he crowed.

Kakashi smirked and ruffled the boy's hair. “It'll take a few more years before you're good enough to really hide,” he said, bursting the boy's bubble. Rishito scowled and glared at Kakashi before turning to the three teens behind him.

Sakura was watching him intently. She could definitely tell that Rishito was Rin's son. The symmetrical stripes on his cheeks were identical to the ones on Rin's - when she allowed them to show. His hazel eyes also seemed to come from his mother. The hair on the other hand, bothered her. Despite the fact that its auburn color was identical to his mother's it just didn't seem to fit the boy. Rishito's gravity defying locks were nothing like Rin's straight tresses.

She glanced up at Kakashi about to ask a question when she gasped. Kakashi was watching her in amusement and was fully prepared when Sakura spoke. “He has his father's hair, doesn't he?” she suggested slyly. Sasuke and Naruto exchanged a confused glance before turning back to the fidgeting ten year old in front of them. Naruto was about to change the subject when Kakashi responded. “Actually you're right. His hair's silver under all this dye,” he said, running his hand lightly through Rishito's hair before it swatted away by said boy.

Sakura giggled and looked over at the other two realizing that they had no clue what was going on. “Dad they're weird,” Rishito voiced, incidentally allowing both Naruto and Sasuke to comprehend the previous conversation.

Naruto looked back and forth between Rishito and Kakashi several times, before bursting out laughing. Sasuke snickered a bit before glancing at Rishito again. “He has his mother's face though,” Sakura said, voicing Sasuke's thoughts.

Kakashi blinked a bit and looked at the three suspiciously. “What's that supposed to mean?” he asked, ignoring Naruto's murmurs about how ridiculous of a father Kakashi must have been. He'd explain later that other than the past year that Rishito had spent in Konoha, he hadn't been able to see his son more than three or four times a year.

“He has Rin's face,” Sasuke stated agreeing with Sakura.

“Really?” Rishito asked, turning around and squinting up at Kakashi. “How can you tell? He always has his face covered,” he claimed, jabbing a thumb at Kakashi.

Naruto calmed down enough to snicker a bit evilly. “I must admit that we were a bit disappointed,” he began. “Here we were thinking that the mask held some great secret. You know some horribly grotesque disfiguration,” he said.

Kakashi was almost too distracted by Naruto's word choices to realize what the blond had just said. Almost being the key word. He glared at his three former students suspiciously. “Were thinking?” he asked. He almost mistook the shudder of Sakura's shoulders to be fear. Almost once again being the key word. When she choked on her laughter a moment later, he realized that all three were laughing at him.

Rishito's eyes widened as he realized what the three meant. “You've seen him without his mask?” he asked excitedly.

Naruto nodded still laughing to hard to react when Kakashi took off for the house. “Oi!” he shouted after his sensei.

“Umm…you think he's going to yell at Rin-san?” Sakura asked nervously. They exchanged a quick glance before they took off after their sensei. Naruto halted slightly allowing Rishito to catch up and jump on his back before he took off after the others.

The four reached the back door leading into the kitchen just moments after Kakashi. They stampeded inside only to find Kakashi pinning Rin against the counter and looting her pockets. “What are you doing?” she asked, trying to shove him off a bit.

“Where is it?” Kakashi asked, moving on to the pockets near her knees.

“Where's what?” she asked, looking from Kakashi to the figure at the table and back to the four at the door. The slight widening of her eyes went unnoticed by everyone.

“Whatever picture you showed them,” Kakashi said, abandoning his search and staring at Rin.

“Later,” she bit out, glancing back towards the door. Kakashi followed her line of sight and grimaced. Naruto, Sakura, and Rishito were all watching the two near the counter trying to hold back their laughter. As annoying as it was to have the three find humor at their expense, it was Sasuke that seemed to be worrying the two adults.

The youngest living Uchiha was staring blankly at a figure about five feet away. On the receiving end of his stare was the oldest living Uchiha who was currently sending slightly panicked glances in Rin and Kakashi's direction out of the corner of his eyes, while trying to return his brother's gaze.

Kakashi slipped over and pulled Sakura and Rishito out. He grabbed at Naruto's arm three times before giving up and escorting the other two away from the house. Rin slowly made her way to the blond who was glaring at his best friend's older brother. “We'll just leave the two of you to talk, okay?” she said nervously, before grabbing Naruto and slipping through the door. Itachi jumped when Rin slammed the door behind them as Naruto yelled, “I'll kill you Itachi-teme if you hurt Sasuke-teme!”

“Well he's certainly…exuberant,” Itachi said, watching the door.

Sasuke was too busy staring at his brother to even register the comment. “Nii-san?” he finally muttered, in disbelief. Rin had briefly mentioned his brother the night they had met, but she had been careful not to breach sensitive topics since then. In spite of what he had told Naruto and Sakura earlier, this was a bit…sudden.

Itachi watched as his brother stared at him without comprehension. He slowly made his way over to Sasuke hoping that the words would come to him. Of course he had been hoping for the same thing ever since he had learned that there was even a chance that Sasuke was alive - he still didn't know what to say to him. He stopped in front of Sasuke and looked down at him.

Sasuke gazed at his brother a bit out of focus. The last time he had seen his brother he had tried to kill him. Itachi had been with that weird shark freak and wearing that stupid cloak. Now he was dressed in his normal clothes, if it weren't for the fact that they had both aged Sasuke almost felt as if he were back at the compound asking his brother to practice shuriken with him. He snapped out of his daze when his brother placed a hand on his shoulder. Sasuke did the only thing he could think of doing, and the last thing Itachi expected.

He hugged him.

 

After several moments, Itachi had cautiously returned the hug. Sasuke had begun to shake and Itachi wondered if he was crying.

“I hated you,” Sasuke stated, a minute or two later as his shaking subsided. Itachi closed his eyes and bowed his head a bit allowing Sasuke to continue. “I hated you for so long that I wanted nothing more than to kill you. I left Konoha because I thought I could do that,” he continued.

“After…” Sasuke trailed off slightly and began shaking again. “He said he killed them. He was telling Kabuto that he was going to send me to kill Naruto soon and he said that he was the one who killed them.

“I didn't know what to do. I still hated you… but nothing made sense. Everything they had told me…none of it made sense. After I met up with Naruto and Sakura again…I realized that I had never hated you for what I thought you had done,” he mumbled into Itachi's chest.

“I hated you for leaving me there,” Sasuke finally said, glancing up at Itachi with red rimmed eyes.

Itachi looked down at him and said the only thing he could, “I'm sorry.”

“Then why did you leave? If it wasn't you, why did you have to leave?” Sasuke nearly pleaded.

Itachi gazed at Sasuke for several moments before sighing and releasing his brother. He sat down near the table and indicated for Sasuke to take a seat as well. Once Sasuke was settled, Itachi began, “Twenty upper ranking members of the Uchiha Clan made a deal with Orochimaru. Uchiha Shisui was acting as a messenger between Orochimaru and the Clan; shortly before the massacre, he was intercepted and questioned. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, Shisui was stopped before he could take a message to Orochimaru. When Orochimaru didn't receive the answer he was waiting for he, along with at least two supporters, came to the Uchiha compound.

“The night he arrived, Sandaime-sama had ordered the execution of those found to be involved with the conspiracy. Three ANBU, including myself, were sent to carry out the assassinations. I don't know what exactly happened other than the fact that we carried out our duty and were on our way to report back to Sandaime-sama when we found evidence of the actual massacre.

“My teammates and I immediately split up looking for the perpetrator. I know I ran past you at one point, but I believe you had already encountered Orochimaru. No matter what happened that night I would have left the village, but it was not my intention to leave you alone,” Itachi finished and gave Sasuke time to take it all in.

“If it wasn't you I saw, then what happened to me? And how did you know enough about it to use the Tsukiyomi on me?” Sasuke asked.

“Although outwardly Orochimaru was unable to take credit for his work, he took great pleasure in letting me know certain…details. One of those was exactly what he did to you. Unfortunately for him, telling me exactly what happened to you that night allowed me to act out my role with much greater ease,” Itachi explained.

“What did he do to me?” Sasuke asked, looking at Itachi in confusion.

“For a number of years Orochimaru has been developing a genjustu he calls Ikijigoku no Jutsu. At the time it was still relatively new and not perfected, but it was developed enough to be used efficiently. Essentially, Ikijigoku creates an effect very similar to the Tsukiyomi. I don't know whether or not this has changed, but at least up until the time Orochimaru left the Akatsuki he was still unable to control the dimension's time,” Itachi said.

“So he took on your appearance and tortured me? Why leave me alive?” Sasuke asked.

“Because he wanted the sharingan, and even then he knew he would never claim mine,” Itachi claimed.

Sasuke gaped at his brother for a moment before turning to stare out the window and into the darkening sky. He hadn't realized that the two had been speaking for that long, but from the looks of it the sun had begun setting at least fifteen minutes ago. “Are you angry I fell for it?” Sasuke finally asked, shocking his older brother.

After a minute, Itachi finally realized that Sasuke was serious and expected an answer. “Everyone around you told you that I was the one responsible. Everyone around you including those who knew otherwise told you that I was the one who did all that to you. How on earth were you supposed to learn otherwise?” Itachi countered. Sasuke's gaze remained fixed on his hands as he listened to his older brother. How could the situation have gotten so out of control?

“Your friends are waiting for us. Why don't we head outside?” Itachi suggested after several minutes of silence. Sasuke nodded dully and followed his older brother outside.

Sasuke finally looked up when he heard his friends' quiet conversation. The sight of five people crammed onto the hammock resting between to ancient trees in the yard was quite amusing. Sasuke grinned weakly as they walked up. “Everything settled?” Rin asked sitting up carefully so as not to disturb the carefully balanced seat.

“For now,” Itachi replied. The group squirmed a bit until there was just enough room for two more to join them. Itachi raised an eyebrow at Rin, “You actually expect us to join you?” He received his answer when Kakashi sat up nearly upending the group.

Kakashi and Rin reached out and pulled Sasuke onto the hammock so that he was resting between his teammates. Itachi stood motionless watching the group with ever growing amusement. “Oi Itachi-teme, if you aren't gonna join us would you mind getting us some food?” Naruto chimed.

Itachi gazed at him levelly, but apparently being around Sasuke for so long had given the boy immunity to it. “What is it going to take to convince you not to call me that?” Itachi asked.

“He just used your name,” Sakura said. “And if you really aren't going to join us I think we'd all like food. We missed dinner,” she added. Itachi turned to glare at the source of muffled laughter, only to find that Sasuke had turned on him. The younger boy had rolled away from Itachi and was attempting to use Naruto's shoulder to stifle his laughter. Naruto wasn't even bothering to hide his amusement.

Itachi rolled his eyes. A year ago these two had been cowering away from him, they didn't even know for sure that he hadn't killed his clan and yet they were already making fun of him. “Apparently you need to work on your reputation,” Rin muttered, voicing his thoughts. Itachi rolled his eyes at her before laying down on the edge of the hammock next to Rishito. “I have a feeling that wouldn't work on them,” Itachi admitted; Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke were now all laughing at him.

“I still think you're scary,” Rishito offered, grinning over at him. If anything the laughter got louder.

Team 7's laughter eventually died down and the group relaxed in the peaceful silence. Sakura glanced to the two boys on her right; she sat up quickly and looked closely down to inspect Sasuke. “Were you crying?” she asked, causing Naruto to glance over at him as well. Sasuke glared up at the two. “Wow you really were,” Sakura stated.

“Itachi-teme, I thought I said…” Naruto's outrage was cut off when Sakura reached over and whacked him over the head.

“Not everything is Itachi's fault. You can't blame him for everything,” she muttered.

“Why not?” Naruto asked dejectedly, “It's fun.”

Sakura ignored him and turned back to Sasuke. Judging by the exasperated sigh coming from Itachi's, that was the smart thing to do. “Do you have a point?” Sasuke asked, looking up at them.

“Why were you crying?” Sakura asked, lying back down.

“No reason,” Sasuke muttered.

“It's okay to cry if you're happy,” Sakura stated, grinning over at him.

Sasuke lazily rolled his head to look over at her. “Where'd you get that from?” he asked.

“Naruto,” Sakura chirped. Naruto glared lightly in her direction.

“You really have been around him too long,” Sasuke muttered, gaining an outraged shout from Naruto. The two began lightly wrestling, sending the hammock swaying hazardously.

“Stop! Stop!” Sakura and Rin nearly shouted sitting up and trying to get the two to stop, not that Rin could do much considering there were two people in between her and the two boys. “You're going to tip us over,” she added as the hammock tilted dangerously backwards. Sasuke and Naruto froze, allowing the swing to eventually settle back down.

“Teme,” Naruto muttered, jabbing Sasuke in the ribs one last time.

“Dobe,” Sasuke countered, elbowing back.

“Idiots,” Sakura mumbled reaching over and smacking them both over the head.

“Meanie,” Naruto pouted. Sakura rolled her eyes at him before settling.

XXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXX

“Where are they?” Mitsutori asked as she and Kato entered the silent and dark house. “They wouldn't have gone to bed already, would they?” she asked.

“No,” Kato responded, shifting Daiki's form on her hip for a little more comfort. She slowly made her way through the rooms and towards the kitchen. Mitsutori reached up to turn on the lamp over the table when Kato's hand stopped her. She followed the other woman's gaze through the window and towards the shadows under two of the largest trees in the yard. “Go get a camera,” Kato muttered quietly.

Mitsutori quickly found the object she was searching for and made her way back to Kato. She took Daiki, freeing Kato up to sneak out the back door. Mitsutori watched as her cousin made her way quietly towards the hammock hanging between the trees.

Fifteen years ago it had been her laying out there with Kakashi and Rin as they told her stories about shinobi. She smiled at the memories; their sensei had pretended to be furious the next morning. He had yelled at them for ten minutes for being irresponsible and not getting any sleep when they knew they had to travel that day. Her cousin, Satumina, had smirked at him and invited them to stay another night. He hadn't refused.

Kato stopped about two meters from the group and gently raised the camera; she hoped the flash wouldn't wake the slumbering group. After documenting the precious moment, she snuck back into the house to prepare a late snack for herself and Mitsutori. They were in for a long week.

 

Agent's Spiel: I hope this explanation of the massacre works for everyone. I know it's pretty farfetched, but it should be solid. There will actually be more explanation later, but as you can see as much as they know, Itachi still doesn't know everything.

Ikijigoku means living hell. It will be explained further at a later date.