Chapter Text
Dawn barely touched the broken skyline when Sasuke roused his team from their makeshift shelter in an abandoned apartment complex. The building listed slightly, structural damage from Pein's attack making every step creak ominously, but it served their purpose—anonymous, overlooked, forgotten in the reconstruction priorities.
"Archives," Sasuke said. "There have to be records somewhere. Mission reports, council meetings, something from around the time of the massacre."
"Most of the administrative buildings were destroyed," Karin pointed out, adjusting her glasses as she expanded her sensing range. "Whatever records existed are probably buried under tons of rubble."
"Then we find the temporary facilities." Sasuke's tone left no room for argument. "The village can't function without documentation. They've set up somewhere."
They spent the morning trailing various officials through the construction zones. Sasuke tracked a cipher unit member for nearly an hour, following the woman through her rounds only to watch her disappear into a medical tent. Two village elders led him on a meandering path that ended at a food distribution center. Nothing useful. Nothing that would explain what Danzo knew, what everyone seemed to know except him.
The frustration gnawed at him as they regrouped near noon. Itachi dominated his thoughts—not the brother he remembered from childhood or the enemy he'd trained to defeat, but this new version full of secrets others apparently knew. The idea that Danzo, that anyone, might understand Itachi better than he did made something violent twist in his chest.
That was his brother. His to understand, his to figure out, his to unravel.
"You're overthinking this," Suigetsu said, lounging against a broken wall. "Just break into somewhere important and take what you need."
"I'm trying to avoid open confrontation," Sasuke replied, though his patience was wearing thin.
Part of him knew he shouldn't be doing this. Itachi clearly wanted these secrets buried. Why else maintain such careful silence? But another part, the part that had saved Itachi despite everything, needed to understand. Every hidden piece, every carefully guarded truth, especially the ones Itachi protected most fiercely.
"Sasuke-kun, are you sure about this?" Karin's worry was painted across her face, the same expression she'd worn since they'd arrived. "I thought this was supposed to be us collecting information about current events. Maybe we should..."
"We should nothing." Sasuke cut her off, tired of her constant fretting. "Focus on your sensing. Are there any archives in the underground bunkers?"
By afternoon, subtlety had failed entirely. Sasuke summoned a handful of snakes, sending them slithering toward what looked like a records facility hastily erected near the Hokage's temporary offices. They made it perhaps 20 meters before chakra signatures flared. ANBU, watching from shadows, intercepting his summons with clinical efficiency.
"They know we're here," Jugo observed quietly.
"They've known since yesterday." Sasuke's jaw tightened. "They're just watching. Waiting to see what we do."
The passive surveillance made everything worse. Like being allowed to fail, permitted to fumble in the dark while others watched with full knowledge of what he'd never find. The condescension of it burned.
"Fuck this," Sasuke muttered, exhaustion and frustration finally overwhelming caution. He strode directly toward the records building, hood thrown back, every inch the Uchiha heir demanding entry.
Two jounin materialized at the entrance, hands moving to weapons but not drawing them.
"Authorized personnel only," the guard said firmly.
"I'm authorizing myself." Sasuke growled, attempting to catch the jonin's gaze.
Sasuke's Sharingan spun to life, genjutsu flowing outward with the full weight of Uchiha blood behind it. The jounin's eyes glazed immediately, bodies going slack as the illusion took hold. They began to step aside, movements puppet-like under his control.
Then chakra signatures flared from the shadows—ANBU, multiple operatives moving in perfect synchronization. Their combined chakra disruption shattered his genjutsu like glass, the jounin snapping back to awareness with gasps of confusion.
"That was unwise," an ANBU operative said, appearing between Sasuke and the entrance. "Stand down immediately."
Itachi would have walked past them like smoke, Sasuke thought bitterly. Would have had them seeing whatever he wanted before they knew they were caught. Instead, Sasuke had telegraphed his intentions with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. The confrontation escalated quickly. Not to lethal force because Sasuke kept his techniques controlled, his team following his lead despite Suigetsu's obvious disappointment at the restraint. But chakra flared, lightning crackled, water surged. Enough noise and energy to announce their presence to anyone with even basic sensing abilities.
"Fall back," Sasuke commanded, breaking off the engagement as more signatures approached. "Now."
They scattered through the streets, regrouping at their predetermined location: a half-destroyed building on the village's edge, its upper floors collapsed but lower levels still intact. Sasuke leaned against a broken wall, breathing hard more from frustration than exertion.
"Well, that was subtle," Suigetsu commented dryly.
"They're still not pursuing," Karin reported, confusion evident. "The ANBU are maintaining distance but..." Her expression shifted to alarm. "Naruto. He felt your chakra during the fight. He's coming this way. Fast."
Of course. Sasuke closed his eyes, accepting the inevitable. There was no avoiding this now, not with Naruto actively tracking him. Better to face it on his own terms than be cornered elsewhere.
"Everyone stay calm," he instructed. "No aggressive moves. We're just talking."
Less than three minutes later, the building's damaged entrance exploded inward with characteristic subtlety.
"SASUKE!"
Naruto stood in the doorway, grinning like the sun itself despite the destruction around them. Orange and black clothing made him stand out like a beacon against the gray rubble, that same ridiculous brightness that had always defined him.
"Naruto," Sasuke acknowledged, voice deliberately flat.
Behind him, Suigetsu rolled his eyes so dramatically his whole head moved with the gesture.
"You're actually here!" Naruto bounded forward, stopping just short of uncomfortable proximity. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this. You finally came back!"
"I haven't come back." The correction came automatic, cold. "I'm gathering information. Nothing more."
Naruto's grin didn't falter. "Yeah, but you're here! That's what matters. No more chasing you across countries, no more trying to track you down. You came on your own!"
The enthusiasm was exhausting. Sasuke studied his former teammate, cataloguing changes. Taller, broader, carrying himself with more confidence. The sage energy Karin had mentioned left subtle traces, a steadiness that hadn't been there before. But underneath, still that same impossible optimism, that belief that everything would work out if people just tried hard enough.
"Who are your friends?" Naruto asked, looking at Sasuke's team with open curiosity.
"My team." Sasuke made brief introductions. "Karin, Suigetsu, Jugo."
"Nice to meet you!" Naruto's friendliness was aggressive in its sincerity. "Any friends of Sasuke's are—"
"We're not friends," Sasuke interrupted. "They're my team."
Suigetsu snorted at that, but said nothing.
"Right, okay." Naruto's expression suggested he didn't believe the distinction but wouldn't argue. "Look, I'll tell you everything you want to know—about the village, about what's been happening, about the war, whatever. Just... stay for a bit. Let's talk."
Suspicion flared immediately. "What are you getting out of this?"
"Getting out of—?" Naruto looked genuinely confused. "I'm not trying to get anything. You're my best friend. I just want to talk to you. And with everything that's happening, the war and all, we need to have each other's backs."
The simplicity of it, the earnest belief that friendship could transcend everything else, was so fundamentally Naruto that Sasuke didn't know whether to laugh or leave immediately.
"Come on," Naruto pressed. "Let's at least talk over food. When's the last time we ate together?"
He looked around the destroyed building, then brightened. "There's this place near the construction site. Just workers mostly, real simple. We could eat and talk without anyone bothering us."
"This isn't a reunion, Naruto."
"I know, I know." But the happiness radiating from him suggested otherwise. "Should I call Sakura-chan? Or Kakashi-sensei? They'd want to—"
"No." The refusal came sharp enough to cut. "Just you. That's already more than I wanted."
Naruto's expression fell slightly, but he recovered quickly. "Okay, just us then. Come on, you'll like this place. Best cheap ramen outside of Ichiraku's."
Of course it would be ramen.
They followed Naruto through the construction zones, Sasuke noting how workers called out greetings, how children pointed excitedly, how the village hero status wasn't just talk. Naruto responded to everyone with waves and smiles, completely at ease with the attention while Sasuke hid his face in the hood.
The eatery was indeed simple: a few tables under a tarp, basic menu, construction workers grabbing quick meals between shifts. They settled at a corner table, Sasuke's team arranging themselves around him.
"So Pein attacked three weeks ago," Naruto began after they'd ordered, launching into the story without preamble. "Destroyed basically everything. But I managed to talk to him! The real him, Nagato... and he understood in the end. About peace, about breaking the cycle. He brought everyone back before he died."
The casual mention of resurrection, of talking someone out of genocide, of breaking cycles of hatred—Naruto discussed it all like it was obvious, natural, the only possible outcome. Sasuke found himself measuring this new Naruto against his memories. The raw power was evident, controlled but massive. His confidence came from actual achievement now, not just determination. But underneath, that same naive belief that people could just understand each other if they tried hard enough. That enemies could become friends through sufficient application of sincerity.
When Sasuke remained silent through most of the explanation, absorbed in his own thoughts, Suigetsu apparently decided to take matters into his own hands.
"So you just talked him out of genocide?" Suigetsu leaned forward with interest. "No finishing move? No decapitation? Just... words?"
"Well, there was fighting first," Naruto admitted. "A lot of fighting. But yeah, in the end, we talked it out."
"That's the most unsatisfying victory I've ever heard." Suigetsu looked genuinely offended. "All that power and you waste it on conversation?"
"It's not wasting—" Naruto started.
"You could have torn him apart!" Suigetsu continued enthusiastically. "Sage Mode against Rinnegan, that must have been incredible. Tell me you at least broke some bones."
"That's not the point of—"
"Come on, give me something. One good dismemberment? A little creative violence?"
Naruto looked between Suigetsu's eager expression and Sasuke's studied indifference. "Your teammates are interesting, Sasuke."
"We're not all failed experiments," Karin snapped defensively. "Some of us are normal people. Suigetsu's the only one who needs a lobotomy."
"Failed experiment?" Naruto looked fascinated. "What kind of experiment?"
"He can turn into water," Jugo supplied quietly, speaking for the first time. "Orochimaru's work."
"That's so cool!" Naruto's enthusiasm was genuine. "Like the Second Mizukage!"
"Exactly like that," Suigetsu boasted. "Except better looking."
"Debatable," Karin muttered.
"So you all worked with Orochimaru?" Naruto asked, no judgment in his tone despite the subject matter and his clear distaste of the man.
"In various capacities," Sasuke finally spoke, wanting to control the narrative. "It's not relevant anymore."
"Right, okay." Naruto accepted the deflection but stayed curious. "Must be nice though, having a team that gets along."
"We don't get along," Sasuke corrected flatly.
"Could've fooled me," Naruto laughed. "They bicker like family."
The word hung awkwardly in the air before Sasuke redirected. "Tell me about Danzo."
"Danzo?" Naruto's expression soured. "He's the Third's old advisor. Acting Hokage while Granny Tsunade recovers. Real creepy guy, always talking about sacrifice and the good of the village. Why?"
"Just gathering information." The deflection came smooth as silk, Itachi's lessons in evasion serving him well.
Suigetsu rolled his eyes but kept whatever commentary he had to himself.
"Oh, speaking of information," Naruto said suddenly, "Itachi came by two weeks ago. Right after Pein's attack. Said you'd be coming to Konoha soon."
"He did?" Sasuke's control slipped slightly.
"Yeah, showed up out of nowhere. Needed to get his crow back—the special one he'd left with me."
"What special crow?" The question came faster now, Sasuke's carefully maintained indifference cracking. "Why did you have Itachi's crow?"
"Oh, that's a weird story." Naruto scratched his head, seemingly oblivious to Sasuke's growing tension. "Before your fight with him... like, right before as I was trying to find you, Itachi intercepted me. Said he wanted to share some of his power with me, then literally shoved a crow down my throat."
"He... shoved a crow down your throat." Sasuke's voice was completely flat.
"Yeah! Had a Sharingan eye and everything. Super weird. But then two weeks ago he said he needed it back for some important fight, so he got it back."
"That must be the crow with Shisui's eye," Karin said quietly.
"Shisui? Never heard the name." Naruto shrugged. "He never explained what it was for. Just said it might come in handy. Then changed his mind, I guess."
The revelation sat like lead in Sasuke's stomach. Even before their fight, when Sasuke had been consumed with nothing but revenge, Itachi had been making contingencies with Naruto. Sharing power. Trusting him with something as precious as Shisui's eye. Meanwhile Sasuke did not even know he had it until one week ago.
"How are you so casual about this?" Sasuke's voice came out harder than intended. "He's a wanted criminal. He murdered his entire clan. Why would you just... talk with him?"
"We're not exactly friendly," Naruto said carefully, seeming to realize he'd hit a nerve. "But he hasn’t been aggressive toward me the last two times we met. And he seems to believe in talking things out rather than just fighting. So we just... talked. Peacefully."
"Peacefully." The word tasted like ash.
"Yeah. Both times, actually. He was very calm even when I yelled at him. Nothing like what I expected from the first time I met him." Naruto studied Sasuke with sudden intensity. "What about you? What's your situation with him now? I mean, you obviously didn't kill him, but you don’t seem like you’re still on your revenge kick anymore. How did that happen?"
The entire table went still. Even the ambient noise of the construction site seemed to fade as everyone waited for Sasuke's response.
"That's complicated," Sasuke said finally.
"Complicated how?" Naruto pressed. "Come on, Sasuke. I've told you everything about what's been happening here. Can't you tell me what happened with your brother?"
"The fight with Itachi isn't over." Sasuke chose his words carefully. "It's just... taken a different form."
"Different form?" Naruto's confusion was evident. "What does that mean?"
"For fuck's sake," Suigetsu said with malicious pleasure, "the two of them are 'fighting' so hard that Sasuke's started talking exactly like him. All deflection and mysterious half-truths. It's actually impressive how fast he picked it up."
Sasuke's chakra flared in warning, the temperature dropping several degrees. Karin actually flinched at the killing intent, though Suigetsu just smirked wider.
"That doesn't make sense," Naruto said, completely missing the undercurrents. "Itachi's always been really direct. Like, every time I've talked to him, he just says exactly what he means. Though I guess he doesn’t necessarily explain things?" He scratched his head remembering all their previous brief interactions.
Sasuke stared at Naruto like he'd grown a second head. They couldn't possibly be discussing the same person.
"Granted, I've only talked to him like three times," Naruto continued, oblivious to Sasuke's disbelief. "But he's always been straight to the point. Everything he told me came true exactly like he said it would."
"What else did he tell you?" Sasuke’s voice came out strained.
"Well, he said war would be declared. Which it was, right after Pein attacked. And that even after Madara was ‘dealt with’, Konoha would probably stay under military rule as long as Granny Tsunade was unconscious because of 'outside threats.' I wanted to go looking for you again, you know? But he told me to stay ‘cuz it will be better if I’m in the village while the political situation is weird, and you’ll be coming back anyway."
Each piece of information hit like a physical blow. Itachi had told Naruto all of this freely, directly, honestly, while maintaining nothing but silence and deflection with Sasuke. The betrayal of it burned worse than any lie.
"But seriously," Naruto continued, leaning forward earnestly. "What happened between you two? You left to get revenge, to kill him for what he did. Now you're here, he's apparently alive somewhere, and you're just... letting him be? How does that work?"
"We came to an understanding," Sasuke said, the words feeling like ground glass.
"What kind of understanding?" Naruto wasn't letting this go. "Sasuke, you were ready to throw everything away for revenge. What could possibly have changed that?"
The pressure in Sasuke's skull was building, questions and betrayals multiplying with each revelation. Itachi had trusted Naruto with Shisui's eye, with information about the war, with truths about Konoha's future. Had approached him before their fight, after their fight, maintaining dialogue while keeping Sasuke in perpetual darkness. He couldn't think of anything else but those few details swirling maddeningly in his head.
"Things aren't always what they seem," Sasuke managed, falling back on Itachi's own deflection tactics.
"That's not an answer!" Naruto's frustration was showing now. "Come on, I'm your friend. Whatever happened, you can tell me."
Friend. As if that word meant anything when Itachi apparently valued Naruto's partnership over his own brother's understanding.
"Wait," Sasuke forced out through the growing pressure in his skull. "What do you mean Madara being dealt with? What's his connection to the war?"
"The masked guy who declared war called himself Madara," Naruto explained. "Right after Pein's attack. He showed up at the Kage summit and everything."
Sasuke turned to Karin. "You said his name was Tobi."
"That's what Konan and Itachi called him," Karin insisted. "I'm certain of it."
"Konan fought him?" Naruto perked up immediately. "With Itachi? How is she? I really liked her, even though she was trying to capture me."
"She died," Karin said quietly. "In the fight against Tobi. Or Madara. Whoever he was."
The brightness dimmed from Naruto's face. "Oh. That's... she was trained by Pervy Sage, you know? Like me. We talked about him when she and Pein came here. She looked sad but I think she was kind underneath everything. How did it happen?" Naruto asked Karin directly, leaning toward her with genuine interest. "The fight, I mean. Itachi and Konan against this Madara guy—that must have been incredible."
The conversation continued around him, but Sasuke found himself disconnecting from it all. The information overload was feeding his vicious headache, pressure building behind his eyes as he tried to process everything.
The orange mask guy was Madara, not just Tobi. Madara, the major threat Itachi was supposedly protecting him against with all those obsessive barriers. War had been declared. Danzo was consolidating power. And through it all, Itachi had been operating with complete knowledge while keeping Sasuke in the dark.
"—paper ocean, literally millions of explosive tags," Karin was saying when Sasuke's attention briefly returned. "She'd been preparing for years, apparently."
"That sounds like something she'd do," Naruto said excitedly. "She was always so careful! And Itachi was there?"
"He dealt the finishing move," Karin admitted. "Used some crow technique with that Sharingan eye to trap Madara at the crucial moment."
"The crow he gave me! I can’t believe it was that powerful of a technique," Naruto murmured.
He stared at his untouched food, the voices around him fading to background noise. The betrayal sat like poison in his stomach, acidic and burning. Sasuke thought back to Itachi’s lies about the massacre. This was worse somehow. This was Itachi choosing to trust Naruto, of all people, with truths he wouldn't share with his own brother.
What else had Itachi told others that he'd kept from Sasuke? What other crucial information was being withheld? And why—why would Itachi be direct and honest with Naruto while maintaining nothing but walls and silence with the person who'd saved his life?
The conversation about Madara's neutralization had barely concluded when Karin's entire posture shifted, her sensing abilities picking up movement through the construction zones.
"Multiple signatures approaching," she said quietly, cutting through Naruto's explanation. "Jounin level. Five... no, six of them. Moving with purpose."
Naruto waved dismissively. "Don't worry about it. Probably just checking on me since I disappeared. I'll handle them."
"No." Sasuke was already standing, gesturing for his team to prepare for departure. "I don't want more people knowing I'm here than necessary."
"Sasuke, come on—"
"We're leaving."
"Wait!" Naruto grabbed his sleeve, an action that would have earned anyone else a kunai to the throat. "At least let me tell you where to meet tomorrow. There's this abandoned building near the old Academy grounds. Barely anyone goes there since the reconstruction started elsewhere." Naruto's grip was firm but not restraining. "I'll come find you. We're not done talking."
Sasuke wanted to refuse, to disappear into the shadows and leave Konoha behind entirely. But there were still answers he needed, information that Naruto might be able to access. He nodded once, sharply, then pulled free.
"Tomorrow," he agreed, then vanished with his team before the approaching jounin could arrive.
From their new hiding spot, another partially collapsed structure that offered both shelter and multiple escape routes, Sasuke watched Naruto handle the jounin with easy deflection. Whatever explanation he gave seemed to satisfy them, though several cast suspicious glances around the area before departing.
The night passed slowly, Sasuke's mind churning through everything he'd learned. Every moment of intimacy they'd shared felt tainted now, knowing that Itachi could be direct and honest when he chose... just not with Sasuke.
The second day brought Naruto as promised, carrying multiple containers of food like he was performing some kind of charitable mission. The sight of him approaching with that bright grin, acting like this was normal, made Sasuke want to pummel him into the ground just for good measure.
"Brought breakfast," he announced, unpacking enough for a small army.
"We're not strays you're feeding under your porch," Sasuke said flatly. "We can get our own food."
"Could've fooled me." Naruto grinned, undeterred. "Hiding in abandoned buildings, skulking around the village. Very stray-cat behavior." He was already unpacking rice balls and various containers.
"He's got a point," Suigetsu said through a mouthful of rice ball. "We are basically living like feral animals right now."
"No one asked you." Sasuke's glare could have melted steel, but Suigetsu just grinned around his mouthful of food. The water-nin was clearly enjoying how easily Naruto could get under Sasuke's skin, a feat that usually required more significant effort from anyone else.
"See?" Naruto pointed triumphantly. "Even hissing at people who try to help. Total cat."
The comparison was so ridiculous that Sasuke couldn't formulate a proper response.
"So," Naruto said, settling cross-legged on the ground with his own portion, "have you thought more about staying? The village could really use someone with your skills for rebuilding."
"I'm not staying," Sasuke said immediately. "I need to return as soon as possible."
Confusion crossed Naruto's features. "Return where? Yesterday you said you were just traveling, not tied to anywhere. What's the rush to get back to nowhere?"
The question hung in the air, Suigetsu giving Sasuke a pointed look that practically screamed 'you walked into that one.' Karin suddenly found her rice ball fascinating.
"Return to traveling," Sasuke corrected, but the damage was done.
"That doesn't make sense." Naruto's confusion was genuine. "You don't 'return' to wandering. You return to places. Or people."
"Drop it."
"Is this about your brother?" Naruto's perception had apparently improved along with everything else. "Are you going back to find him?"
"I said drop it." Sasuke's tone carried enough warning to make even Naruto pause. "Can you help me access the archives?"
"The archives?" Naruto blinked at the subject change. "Why do you need—wait, is this still about the massacre?"
"Among other things."
"Oi, Sasuke… what's left to investigate? He killed everyone, that's an established fact. What details could possibly matter now?"
The question forced Sasuke closer to truths he didn't want to share. How could he explain that every established fact was potentially a lie? That Itachi's version of events had more holes than substance? That understanding what really happened that night might be the only way to comprehend the brother who shared his bed but not his thoughts?
"I think Itachi lied about certain things," Sasuke said carefully, each word measured. "I need to verify what actually happened."
"Is this related to your fight?" Naruto leaned forward, intensity replacing his earlier playfulness. "To why you're both still alive when you spent four years preparing to kill him?"
The perception in that question caught Sasuke off-guard. Naruto might play the fool, but he saw more than most gave him credit for.
"It's related," Sasuke admitted.
"Okay." Naruto stood, decision made with his characteristic impulsiveness. "I'll look into it. Can't promise I'll find anything… most of those records are probably classified way beyond my clearance. But I'll try."
"Discreetly," Sasuke emphasized. "I don't want Danzo knowing."
"Why are you so worried about Danzo?"
"Just do it discreetly."
After Naruto left, Sasuke turned to Karin with new focus. "Map out every ANBU position in the village. Regular forces and Root. I want to know their patterns, their blind spots, everything."
Karin closed her eyes, expanding her senses across the village. Her expression grew increasingly frustrated as she worked, finally opening her eyes with obvious annoyance.
"The regular ANBU are straightforward enough, but Root..." She shook her head. "They're using some kind of barrier to mask their signatures. I can sense them when they move, but when they're stationary, they almost disappear. It's incredibly sophisticated."
"Of course it is," Sasuke muttered. Everything about Danzo's forces suggested preparation, training, secrets within secrets.
"You know," Suigetsu said with mock casualness to fill the silence and tease his second favorite target, "you looked pretty jealous yesterday, boss."
"Jealous?" Sasuke's tone could have frozen fire. "That's idiotic."
"Is it though?" Suigetsu sprawled against a broken wall, clearly enjoying stirring the pot. "Your brother tells Naruto everything while keeping you in the dark. That's got to sting. Especially since your… bedroom vocalizations."
"Suigetsu!" Karin's scandalized voice did nothing to stop him.
"What? It's so obvious it hurts.”
The worst part was that Karin and even Jugo seemed to agree, their expressions suggesting Suigetsu had voiced what they'd all been thinking. Karin in particular was carefully not meeting his eyes.
"I'm not jealous," Sasuke insisted. "I'm angry about being kept in the dark. It doesn't matter who he told… Naruto, Danzo, the fairy godmother… the point is he didn't tell me."
But even as he said it, he knew the truth was uglier. It did matter that it was Naruto. It mattered that Itachi had chosen to trust someone who represented everything Sasuke had left behind—Konoha, friendship, naive idealism—while maintaining walls with his own brother.
"Sure, sure." Suigetsu's tone suggested complete disbelief. "That's why you looked ready to murder Naruto when he mentioned those 'peaceful conversations.'"
Sasuke didn't dignify that with a response, turning his attention to strategy instead. He needed to extract truth from people who had no reason to share it. Danzo was untouchable without causing an international incident. The archives were too well-guarded for direct assault. He found himself wishing for Itachi's Tsukuyomi, the ability to dive into someone's mind and take what he needed. Or even the Yamanaka techniques that could peel back mental defenses like opening a book.
But he had neither. Just regular genjutsu that ANBU could break, and a growing frustration that he was wasting his time in a place where nobody was motivated to help him figure it out except the one person who wanted him to stay behind the most.
Naruto returned as the sun began setting, but he wasn't alone. Kakashi walked beside him, that lazy slouch not quite hiding the readiness for combat. Sasuke was on his feet immediately, hand moving to his sword as his team tensed behind him.
"Sorry," Naruto said quickly, hands raised peacefully. "He read right through me when I started asking about eight-year-old classified records. Figured it was better to bring him than have him track you down himself."
"Sasuke." Kakashi's visible eye curved in what might have been a smile but felt more like assessment. "It's been a while."
"Kakashi." The name came out flat, wary.
Suigetsu had already drawn his sword, the blade resting casually against his shoulder but ready to move at Sasuke's signal. The tension in the ruined building ratcheted up several degrees, everyone waiting to see who would make the first move.
"I'm not here to fight," Kakashi said mildly, hands visible and weaponless. "As long as you're not planning anything rash."
"I'm only looking for information," Sasuke said, not relaxing his guard. "I have no interest in Konoha beyond that."
"Information about the massacre." Disappointment colored Kakashi's tone. "You're still fixated on revenge after all this time."
"It's not about revenge." The words came out louder than intended, frustration breaking through control. "It's about understanding. You of all people should get that."
Kakashi had lost everyone too—his father, his teammates, his sensei. He'd lived with ghosts and questions, had spent years at that memorial stone. How could he not understand the need to know why, to understand the truth behind the tragedy?
"What I understand," Kakashi said with that same measured tone he'd used years ago, "is that dwelling on the past prevents you from moving forward. The village is rebuilding. Your friends are here. You could have a future if you'd just—"
"Move on?" Sasuke's laugh was bitter. "Find peace in the village? I'm sick of everyone telling me the same thing. Move on, let go, find peace, come home. As if it's that simple. As if I can just forget everything and pretend to be satisfied with ignorance."
"Who else is telling you this?" Kakashi's eye sharpened with interest. "Besides your old team?"
Sasuke ignored the question, pressing forward with his own point. "The past shapes everything about the present. You can't just pretend it doesn't exist. The second I entered this village, Danzo found me. The acting Hokage himself tracked me down just to taunt me about being inferior to Itachi, about knowing nothing while everyone else apparently understands the truth."
That got Kakashi's attention. His posture shifted subtly, the lazy slouch becoming more alert. "Danzo-sama approached you directly?"
"At the Uchiha compound. Made it very clear I was a 'poor exchange' for losing Itachi." The words still burned to repeat. "So tell me, how am I supposed to magically get over the past and rejoin a village where the acting Hokage is openly hostile? Where everyone knows more about my own brother than I do?"
Kakashi was quiet for a long moment, visibly processing this information. When he spoke, his tone had shifted from disappointment to something more thoughtful.
"Danzo-sama and your brother had obviously known each other. Even though he was never part of Root, Itachi and I were on the same team in ANBU for a time. Danzo-sama would have had plenty of opportunities to observe him and form opinions."
"You were on the same team?" This was new information, another piece of the puzzle Sasuke hadn't known existed.
"Briefly. Your brother was... exceptional, even by ANBU standards." Kakashi seemed to be choosing his words carefully. "Danzo-sama always paid special attention to exceptional shinobi. But his behavior toward you..." He paused. "Hmm, that is unusual."
"Maybe Sasuke's right," Naruto interjected suddenly. "Maybe there's something off about this whole situation. I mean, when you think about it—"
"Naruto." Sasuke's interruption was sharp, cutting off whatever revelation about talking to Itachi might have followed. The last thing he needed was Kakashi learning about Itachi's recent activities, in case Naruto hadn’t already blabbed about it carelessly.
But he wasn't done with Kakashi. Not by a long shot.
"You worked with him," Sasuke said, voice low and intense. "You knew Itachi in ANBU. That should have been enough for you to doubt what happened. At least a little."
"Sasuke..."
"No, think about it." The words came faster now, years of suppressed logic finally given voice. "What 13-year-old decides to kill everyone? Alone? For made-up reasons like 'measuring his capacity'? You don't measure yourself against sleeping mothers and children."
Kakashi's visible eye flickered with discomfort, or maybe just recognition of the point's validity.
"In all my years of revenge obsession," Sasuke continued, "why did you never point that out? The story doesn't make sense. It never made sense. Are you really dumber than I am right now, or did you just not care enough to think about it?"
The accusation hung heavy in the air. Naruto looked torn between his friend and his former sensei, shifting uncomfortably as he tried to find middle ground that might not exist.
"You're right that it didn't fit his character," Kakashi admitted slowly. "When he returned after the Third's death, he could have killed me easily. Instead, he used Tsukuyomi to incapacitate me without permanent damage. That restraint didn't match someone who'd massacred his family for power."
"Then why—"
"That doesn't change what he did," Kakashi continued, his tone firming. "Whatever his motivations, the clan is still dead. He still hurt you repeatedly. His reasons, whatever they were, are beside the point now."
"Beside the point?" Sasuke's voice dropped to something dangerous. "My entire life was shaped by not understanding why. Everything I became, every choice I made, was because of reasons that didn't make sense. And you think that's beside the point?"
"I think dwelling on it won't bring them back," Kakashi said carefully.
"This is exactly why I left." Sasuke's laugh was bitter. "This dismissal. This willingness to accept surface explanations without questioning deeper. You all just wanted me to move on, to stop asking questions, to be satisfied with 'Itachi went crazy and killed everyone, the end.'"
He turned to his team, who had been watching the exchange with varying degrees of tension. "We're leaving."
"Sasuke, wait!" Naruto started.
"No." Sasuke was already moving, his team falling into formation behind him. "I'm done having this conversation. Done being told to accept ignorance."
Kakashi made no move to pursue them, that single eye watching with an expression Sasuke couldn't read and didn't care to interpret. But as they moved through the ruined streets, he heard footsteps following—Naruto, of course, unable to let anything go.
"Sasuke, come on! Don't leave like this!"
Sasuke didn't slow, didn't turn, but his mind was already spinning through everything again. The massacre that made no sense. Itachi at 13, somehow overpowering an entire clan of trained shinobi, even with Madara’s help. The Military Police, elite fighters, all dead. His father, who'd led the clan, defeated. His mother, gentle but still an Uchiha, still a trained shinobi, gone.
How had no one questioned it? How had they all just accepted that a single teenager, no matter how prodigious, had accomplished such complete destruction alone? The logistics alone should have raised doubts. The timeline, the method, the supposed motivation… none of it held up under scrutiny.
"Sasuke!" Naruto's voice came from closer now, the idiot actually keeping pace despite Sasuke's attempts to lose him.
But Sasuke's thoughts were elsewhere, circling the eternal question that defined everything: what had really happened that night? What pressure or threat could have driven his brother to such extremes?
Danzo knew. That much was certain from their interaction. The old raisin understood something about Itachi's true motivations and spoke of him with respect rather than condemnation. Called Sasuke a "poor exchange" as if Itachi's loss meant something to the village beyond removing a traitor.
The pieces were there, scattered and fractured, but forming a picture Sasuke couldn't quite see. All he knew was that everyone—Danzo, Kakashi, probably others—had accepted the surface story while knowing it didn't fit. They'd let him grow up believing a lie, let him shape his entire existence around a false narrative.
And now they wondered why he couldn't just move on.
Naruto was still following, still calling his name, but Sasuke let the sound fade into background noise. He had more important things to focus on than the village's golden boy trying to drag him back into comfortable ignorance.
The tackle came from behind, no chakra enhancement, just Naruto's full body weight slamming into Sasuke with the graceless determination that defined him. They hit the ground hard, rolling across the grass in a tangle of limbs and curses. Sasuke's elbow found Naruto's ribs. Naruto's knee caught Sasuke's thigh. No jutsu, no Sharingan, no sage mode, just two bodies remembering Academy yard fights before everything got complicated.
"Why won't you just talk to me?" Naruto grunted, trying to get leverage.
"I did talk!" Sasuke drove his shoulder into Naruto's stomach, forcing him back.
"No, you were deflecting while I was talking! We could have convinced Kakashi-sensei together if you just tried instead of running away!"
Sasuke's fist connected with Naruto's cheek with a satisfying crack. Naruto retaliated immediately, catching Sasuke's eye with a wild haymaker that would have horrified their taijutsu instructors.
Jugo moved immediately, reaching to pull Naruto off, but both combatants turned on him in perfect synchronization.
"Stay out of it!" they yelled in unison, voices overlapping with identical fury.
Jugo froze, looking to Suigetsu for guidance. The swordsman just grinned, settling against a broken wall to enjoy the show.
"This is better than dinner theater," he commented to no one in particular.
They rolled again, Sasuke managing to get his arm around Naruto's throat in a chokehold. "You want to know what's going on? Fine! Everything about the massacre is a lie, and nobody gives a shit except me!"
Naruto twisted, using flexibility Sasuke had forgotten he possessed to escape and reverse their positions. "Then let me help! We can figure this out together!"
"You don't know anything!" Sasuke drove an elbow back, breaking free. "There's nothing to figure out together. Only the higher-ups or the archives have the truth."
They grappled again, techniques forgotten in favor of raw aggression. Naruto's nose was bleeding. Sasuke could feel his eye swelling shut. Neither cared.
"The Third Hokage would have been Itachi's direct boss," Naruto panted, managing to pin Sasuke's wrists. "And he's dead! So who else would know?"
Sasuke brought his knee up, not quite connecting but forcing Naruto to shift in order to protect his balls. "Danzo was his advisor. He knows something." A fist caught Naruto's cheek as Sasuke continued. "Maybe those other fossils, Homura and Koharu. But everyone else who'd know is dead."
"What about the clan?" Naruto asked, dodging a punch. "Someone must have noticed something was wrong before—"
"They're all dead!" The words came out raw, furious at Naruto's stupid suggestion. "Every single one of them except me and him! Do you suddenly have psychic powers you want to tell me about?"
The reminder seemed to take some fight out of Naruto. His grip loosened slightly, creating an opening Sasuke immediately exploited.
"Even Madara!" Sasuke grunted as he tried to flip their positions. "He supposedly helped with the massacre. Itachi told me that himself, then apparently killed him later. None of it makes sense!"
"Wait, stop..." Naruto tried to process while maintaining his pin. "Madara helped? Maybe... maybe Madara wanted everyone dead and Itachi helped in exchange for your life?"
That gave Sasuke the opening he needed. Using the momentary distraction, he bucked his hips hard, flipping their positions with a move that would have made their Academy instructors proud. Now he had Naruto pinned, though his eye was swollen and throbbing from a lucky punch.
"I thought of that," Sasuke panted, grip tight on Naruto's shoulders. "But why would someone as powerful as Madara need a 13-year-old's help? He could have destroyed the clan himself."
"Unless he needed it to look like an inside job," Naruto suggested, still trying to buck Sasuke off. "Maybe he wanted Itachi in Akatsuki? Like an initiation? Prove your loyalty by—"
"By murdering everyone?" Sasuke's grip tightened. "If Itachi knew Madara was planning something like that, he would have told someone. Our father, the Hokage, someone. Not just... gone along with it."
"Unless he couldn't," Naruto countered, finally managing to create space between them. "Unless Madara had something on him, or threatened something worse…"
They broke apart, both breathing hard, eyeing each other warily. Blood dripped from Naruto's nose. Sasuke's left eye was swollen shut. Neither made a move to continue, the fight's momentum lost in the weight of their speculation.
Sasuke found himself truly considering Itachi's age for the first time. Not the abstract number, but the reality of it. Thirteen. If he saw a 13-year-old now attempting what Itachi had supposedly done alone, he'd be outraged at the impossibility of it. Genius or not, prodigy or not, 13 was still a child. Sasuke had been training under Orochimaru at 13, nowhere near ready to even fight his brother, much less half the whole Uchiha clan.
The Itachi he knew now—the one who held him at night, who maintained careful distances during the day, who could eliminate S-rank threats with terrifying efficiency—that Itachi had been shaped by years of experience. But at 13? He would have been skilled, yes, but not the force of nature everyone seemed to accept he'd been. ...Probably.
"This looks fun," Suigetsu's voice cut through Sasuke's spiraling thoughts. "Can I get a turn?"
Naruto looked utterly confused, crawling from underneath Sasuke. "What?"
"Come on, hit me." Suigetsu held his arms wide, grinning. "Free shot."
"I'm not going to—"
"Scared?"
That did it. Naruto's competitive nature overrode confusion. He swung at Suigetsu, only for his fist to pass through suddenly liquid flesh with a wet splash.
"What the..." Naruto stared at his dripping hand while Suigetsu reformed, laughing.
"Gets them every time!"
Sasuke scowled, climbing off Naruto with as much dignity as he could manage with a swollen eye. "Stop inserting yourself into all my relationships."
"Jealous of my social skills?" Suigetsu's grin widened. "I bet even Itachi misses my commentary by—"
"Enough." Sasuke's interruption came sharp enough to cut glass, panic flashing through him at the careless reveal.
He turned back to Naruto, who was sitting up and prodding his bruised jaw. "I have no interest in returning to a village content to bury the truth about my family."
Naruto's expression shifted to something conflicted, uncertain. "Maybe you should ask Itachi directly? Since you're not trying to kill each other anymore?"
The suggestion hit like a physical blow. Sasuke couldn't quite hide the pain that flashed across his features, though he forced the words out steady. "He won't talk to me."
"That doesn't make sense." Naruto's confusion was genuine. "He knew you were coming to Konoha. He must be talking to you somehow."
The logic was inescapable, and Sasuke watched Naruto work through it, seeing understanding dawn.
"He wants you to believe the lie," Naruto said slowly. "Wants you to come back without questioning anything. That's what you meant by everyone pushing you to return and accept things as they are?"
"Is this charade really necessary?" Suigetsu asked, tone unusually serious.
Sasuke turned on him with barely contained fury. "Why should I be transparent when no one else offers even a sliver of truth?"
"The people keeping things from you aren't who I'm talking about," Suigetsu said meaningfully.
Sasuke was aware that he was keeping just as many secrets, that his complaints about Itachi's silence rang hollow when he wouldn't even tell Naruto the truth about their current situation. Still he went silent, leaning against a tree as his mind churned through scenarios. Beside him, Naruto did the same, both of them looking like they'd been through a minor war. Karin knelt between them with clear exasperation, hands glowing with healing chakra.
"Was this really necessary?" she demanded, working on Naruto's split lip. "You could have just talked like normal people."
"We did talk," Naruto pointed out, wincing as she prodded a bruise.
"With your fists!"
"Sometimes that's clearer," Sasuke muttered, closing his eyes as Karin switched to his swollen eye.
His mind kept circling back to Itachi. The brother who held him but wouldn't be honest with him. Who could be physically intimate yet emotionally distant. Who kissed him goodbye with real affection but told Naruto more truth in five minutes than Sasuke had gotten in weeks.
13 years old. At that age, Itachi would have been brilliant but still forming. Still learning. Still young enough that the weight of an entire clan's death should have broken him. Instead, he'd carried it for years, shaped himself around it, built walls so high that even now, even with all their physical closeness, Sasuke couldn't see over them. What threat was severe enough that a child—because that's what he'd been, genius or not—would slaughter everyone he knew rather than seek help?
"He was just a kid," Sasuke said suddenly, the words escaping without permission.
"Who?" Naruto asked, though his expression suggested he knew.
"Itachi. The night of the massacre." Sasuke opened his eyes, staring at nothing. "If I saw a 13-year-old trying to do what he did, I'd know it was impossible. But everyone just... accepted it."
The silence stretched between them, broken only by Karin's quiet work and Suigetsu's occasional whistling.
"You know," Naruto said slowly, dabbing at his bloody nose, "Maybe you’re right. Itachi can't be all bad. He killed Madara, right? And he gave me that crow to help, even if he took it back later. Maybe there's more to this."
Sasuke glanced at him, surprised by the acquiescence. Naruto's face was swelling impressively, purple-black spreading across his cheekbone, yet here he was trying to find redemption in Itachi's actions.
"We need a plan," Naruto continued, shifting against the tree. "Something better than you sneaking around getting caught by Danzo."
"I wasn't caught, he knew where to find me," Sasuke muttered, but his mind was already elsewhere. Every minute here was a minute away from the safe house, away from Itachi. The urgency pulled at him, an almost physical need to return and confront his brother with everything he'd learned. Or hadn't learned. Or suspected but couldn't prove.
"What about the other villages?" Naruto suggested. "Maybe they have intelligence about what really happened. The Mist or Cloud might have—"
"We need to go," Sasuke said abruptly, standing despite the protest of bruised ribs.
"Go where?" Naruto asked innocently.
"Away from here." The words came out sharper than intended, driven by the desperate need to return to the safe house, to confront the person at the center of all these mysteries.
"Wait, I can help!" Naruto scrambled to his feet, grabbing Sasuke's sleeve. "I'll track Itachi down myself if I have to. Get answers directly from him."
Sasuke actually laughed—a harsh, bitter sound. "You'll track down Itachi? You?"
"Why not? I've talked to him before—"
"You've had conversations he allowed. There's a difference." Sasuke pulled free of Naruto's grip. "You can't find Itachi unless he wants to be found."
"Then I'll corner the elders! Danzo, those other two… I'll make them talk!"
"And say what? 'Hey, tell me about the classified massacre from eight years ago'? They'll pat you on the head and send you away."
"I'm the village hero now," Naruto said stubbornly. "They have to listen to me."
"They don't have to do a damn thing." But Sasuke paused, something close to resignation flickering across his face. In the end, Itachi was still the source he had most access to. "Just... leave it alone, Naruto."
"I can't! Not when you're this torn up about it. It's eating you alive." Naruto stepped closer, voice dropping. "Let me help. We're supposed to be friends, right?"
Friends. That word again that sat strange in Sasuke's mouth, incompatible with the turmoil in his chest. No matter. He needed to go back, needed to see Itachi, to rage at him for all the lies and secrets. But also to be held by him, to find that careful comfort that Itachi offered even while maintaining distance.
The contradiction was overwhelming. The same person who'd stood over their parents' bodies now held him at night with impossible gentleness. The brother who'd traumatized him for years was also the one who denied himself everything—food, sleep, peace—unless Sasuke literally forced it on him.
He couldn't be the villain. Not the Itachi who touched him like something precious, who protected him obsessively while pretending indifference. Who never allowed himself anything good, who seemed to believe he deserved nothing but suffering.
But he also couldn't be innocent. Not with blood on his hands and secrets in his silence.
"I have to go," Sasuke said, the urgency bleeding through despite his attempts at control.
"Then I'm coming with you," Naruto said immediately.
"No."
"You can't stop me from following—"
"I can and I will." Sasuke's sharingan spun to life, the threat clear. "This is my problem to solve."
"It's our problem! Itachi predicted I'd be involved, he told me things, he—" Naruto paused, studying Sasuke's face with sudden understanding. "You're going to him. That's why you're so desperate to leave."
Sasuke's silence was confirmation enough.
"You know where he is." Naruto's voice held wonder rather than accusation. "Are you working together, or living together, or—"
"Stop."
"Just tell me the truth! Are you protecting him? Is he protecting you? What's really going on?"
Sasuke looked at his former teammate—bruised, bloody, desperately trying to understand. The truth pressed against his teeth, wanting to spill out. That Itachi was waiting in a safe house, probably aware through his crow network that Sasuke had been fighting. That he'd offer warmth and gentle touches while still refusing to explain why he'd destroyed everything. That Sasuke would accept that comfort, needing to understand what combination of circumstances had convinced Itachi that everything needed to stay buried like this.
"The truth," Sasuke said finally, "is that nothing makes sense. And the one person who could explain it all… won't."
"Then make him," Naruto said fiercely. "We’re not kids anymore! Make him tell you."
If only it were that simple. If only Sasuke could demand answers without Itachi deflecting, redirecting, managing him like someone who couldn't handle reality. If only the need for truth wasn't tangled with the need to hold his brother and understand what had shaped him into someone who believed silence was protection.
"I'm trying," Sasuke admitted, the words barely audible.
"Try harder." Naruto's hand found his shoulder, grip firm despite their earlier violence. "And when you need help, I'm here. I'll keep pushing the elders, asking questions. Maybe if enough people demand answers…"
"They'll bury it deeper." But Sasuke didn't pull away from the touch. "That's what they do with inconvenient truths."
"Not if I have anything to say about it." Naruto's determination was almost painful to witness. "I'll find out what happened, Sasuke. I promise."
Sasuke guessed that Itachi was pushing him towards Naruto because of this earnest determination, completely at odds with his brother’s own closed-off, secretive ways. That was the “better choice” Itachi envisioned for him. And sure, Naruto’s promise should have been comforting. There was more honesty in his eyes than his brother probably mustered in his entire life. And still, it only added to Sasuke's urgency to leave, to return to the complicated safety of Itachi's presence. To confront him about Danzo, about ANBU, about every single choice he ever made.
"Do what you want," Sasuke said, stepping back. "Just don't get yourself killed over my family's ghosts."
Then he was moving, his team falling in behind him, leaving Naruto standing in the forest still shouting promises to help, to investigate, to never give up. The words followed them through the trees, persistent as the bruises that would take days to fade.
Sasuke's mind was already ahead, returning to a safe house where complicated truths lived in the space between comfort and distance, where the villain and savior were the same person, where answers remained locked behind gentle deflections and careful walls. Where Itachi waited, unknowing that Sasuke had learned just enough to make everything worse—and just enough to finally start understanding the shape of the secrets being kept, even if not their substance.