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Discovering Home Discovering Home - 1


The brief surge in chakra had been unexpected, of low intensity, and thus easily missed - by anyone except Uchiha Itachi or Hatake Kakashi. They broke off what had been an impromptu staring contest to gaze towards the source of the disturbance. Without a word, both took to their heels, replacing their masks as they went, running swiftly together through the rain, formation as tight as it had been for the mission they had just completed.



Upon arriving at the training ground, they paused in the shadows to assess the situation. Several bodies were visible lying facedown on top of one another near the posts in the centre of the clearing. None were moving, although the faint chakra he sensed indicated that at least one was still alive. Scanning the ground presented him with a puzzle: while there were indications of people leaving the area, there was nothing to indicate how the three bodies had reached their current position.



A soft murmur beside him led to a puff of smoke, and the appearance of one of Kakashi's nin-dogs. Pakkun, as Kakashi named him, was sent chasing down the trail leading away from the scene, leaving the two ninja to deal with the tangle of limbs that remained. Itachi approached with kunai drawn, but the only surprise was the small emblem sewn onto the back of the figure lying closest towards him.



/Uchiha/. The fan was unmistakeable. This man was one of his own clan, as no one else would dare to wear that symbol in Konoha. This simple fact increased the need for answers, as the Uchiha clan held low tolerance for attacks upon one of their own, Itachi's own father foremost amongst those who would demand retribution under the banner of justice.



Touching his fingers to the other's neck ascertained that he was alive: his pulse weak, but steady. Unable to identify the other Uchiha with his face obscured, Itachi moved an extraneous arm and rolled the other onto his back. Absorbing the refined features revealed with wide eyes, Itachi found himself considering the impossible. There was only one Uchiha he knew whose face matched that of the young man lying before him; but Sasuke was still only a child.



Glancing across to Kakashi, he found the older shinobi staring at him blankly, mask discarded. Casting his gaze down to the two other men who had formed the body pile, he found himself incredulously cataloguing the whisker-marked cheeks that should only have belonged to Sasuke's classmate, Uzumaki Naruto, and the single sharingan eye staring glassily up from a duplicate of Kakashi's face.



"You get to do the report for this one," Kakashi informed him mildly. "Since it appears that I'm dead."



* * *



Sandaime didn't agree with Kakashi's logic, so both of them ended up spending the next several hours in a secured ward at the hospital while the medics and the Hokage examined the trio in minute detail. Since they were handy anyway they had been seconded into guard duty, enforcing the restricted access that had been applied to all three. Sandaime had requested they remain unmasked for this task, and the Hokage's will was law for a shinobi, despite Itachi's suspicions regarding his motives for the directive. Fortunately for their peace of mind, the second Kakashi's corpse had been removed to another room fairly early on. While Itachi was quite used to being around dead bodies, having created quite a few himself, there was something about guarding the corpse of the man you were currently working with that was fundamentally wrong - and there was no doubt in his mind that the corpse was truly Kakashi's.



Every test that had been performed only made it more obvious that somehow the trio were exactly who they appeared to be. There were no detectable methods of concealment or disguise in use, and every expected mark and scar was in its place - including Uzumaki's distinctive seal, which Sandaime focussed on greatly - as well as many additional ones. Physically, the only major discrepancy as to their identities was the difference in age. That brought up all sorts of interesting questions, which would likely only be answered when one of the still-living pair regained their faculties. As Itachi gazed into dull, unseeing eyes of his apparently older little brother, he found the prospect decreasingly likely to happen anytime soon.



"We have to get some fluid into him or he will die," one of the medics was saying, waving his hands for emphasis. While Itachi recognised the risk - he had been the one to bind the wound originally, and had a fair idea of how much blood Sasuke had lost - he couldn't help but think the medic was being somewhat melodramatic. "His body is already in shock, if we don't treat him - "



"We can't treat him if he won't let us," another broke in darkly. He was glaring at the patient in question while cradling his right arm in his left.



Personally Itachi was rather impressed that Sasuke was able to ward off not only the medics but both ANBU as well. Admittedly they had held back, lest they do more damage than could be readily corrected, but Sasuke was only semi-conscious at best, his strength greatly reduced, his body seemingly reacting on instinct alone. He had known his little brother possessed potential to equal his own abilities, yet now he found himself revising his opinion.



Sasuke was quite possibly better than Itachi. The knowledge brought with it a curious combination of envy and vindication, as well as several bruises scattered strategically across his body. It would be an hour or so before he would regain full feeling in his left arm, but it could have been worse, he mused, glancing over to where Kakashi was still hunched over, clutching at his groin.



The Sandaime sighed audibly. "Itachi? Your sharingan?"



He shook his head negatively. "Ineffective." That had been a surprise, as his opponent's sharingan would normally have to be activated in order to avoid being ensnared in genjutsu, even if they were stronger than he, a rarity in itself. Since Sasuke was seemingly already trapped within genjutsu, it should have been even simpler to affect his mind. That he was unable to penetrate it at all indicated that either the person who cast the genjutsu or Sasuke himself - or possibly even both - were far more proficient than he was.



The Hokage's eyebrows had risen at his answer, and the old man peered contemplatively at Sasuke, who had slumped down against the wall between the two beds, seemingly apathetic to his surroundings now that no one was actively trying to stab him with a needle. A thin trickle of blood had trailed down his wrist, the only obvious sign of their previous attempt.



"Get me Nara Shikaku," Sandaime ordered at length. The first medic brightened immediately at the naming of the shadow-jutsu wielder. The second grumbled and stomped puerilely out of the room, glaring darkly at Sasuke on his way out, and slamming the door behind him.



The old man sighed once more.



"Fi' mo' min'..."



Itachi turned along with everyone else in the room to the source of the unexpected protest. Uzumaki had rolled onto his side while they'd all been preoccupied with Sasuke, but there was no other indication that his condition had altered. Kakashi, who was closest, uncurled himself enough to poke at the young man lying on the hospital bed.



"Oi, Uzumaki?"



"Sensei?" Blue eyes opened blearily. Blinking, the blonde turned his head to peer past Kakashi to the rest of the people in the room, pausing on the remaining medic.



"Amazing!" The man almost gushed as he practically tripped over his own feet to reach Uzumaki's bedside. "Those injuries - the chakra loss - he shouldn't have regained consciousness for days!"



The blonde's face crinkled into a frown as the medic began to check his vitals, but he did not lash out as Sasuke had. Instead, he turned his gaze back towards the Hokage, and blinked twice more.



"Waaah!" The hapless medic was clipped on the chin and sent flying as the blonde suddenly shot up to his feet, standing on the bed waving a bandaged arm at the old man. "Ghost!"



Sandaime's eyebrow twitched. As he strode towards the bed, Uzumaki scuttled backwards, tripping over the sheets in the process. By the time the Hokage reached his side the young man was pressed up against the headboard, blue eyes impossibly wide as he strained away from the old man.



"I'm not dead yet!" Sandaime informed him, rapping the blonde over the head with his knuckles.



"Ow," the blond muttered indignantly as he rubbed at his skull, but Itachi could see puzzlement replace the fear in his expression. "But you did die," he protested. "There was a big funeral and all, right sensei? Ita-" He broke off, his face seemingly frozen mid-syllable.



"I'm not a ghost either," said Itachi, thinking back to the dead Kakashi lying on the ground beneath Sasuke and Uzumaki.



"Itachi," the blond breathed, then frowned again. "But - how old are you?" he demanded, eyes roving up and down Itachi's body in a way that reminded the Uchiha oddly of Sasuke. The younger boy would often stare at him for minutes at a time, that same puzzled frown on his face as he studied every inch of Itachi's body, as though he could learn by observation how to grow up that much faster. Of course, it was likely Itachi's comparative youth that was puzzling Uzumaki now.



"Twelve," Itachi answered, after flicking his eyes across to Sandaime and receiving a brief nod.



"Twelve?" Uzumaki echoed incredulously. "That's impossible! I mean, I'm almost seventeen, and Sasuke - " he broke off again, his expression suddenly going completely blank. "Where's Sasuke?" he asked softly, his tone completely serious for the first time.



Itachi barely had a chance to move his eyeballs in the appropriate direction before the blonde ninja was down on the floor peering intently into Sasuke's dull eyes, ripping his own IV line out carelessly when it didn't give him enough leeway, much to the medic's dismay.



"How is he?"



"He lost a lot of blood from the stab wound below his clavicle, but fortunately his lung wasn't damaged," the medic answered, all the while staying safely out of arm's reach. It seemed he was finally starting to learn from his repeated altercations with these patients. "Although he's fighting the effects, his body is in shock, and we've been trying to replace his fluids, but..." He gestured at the trail of blood on Sasuke's left arm, now matched by Uzumaki's.



"If he doesn't want it, you're not going to get a needle in him, let alone keep it in him," Uzumaki snorted lightly, eyes still locked on Sasuke's. "Bastard always gets his way."



"Does he have to have an IV line?" Kakashi interjected. "If he can fight like that, he should be able to eat, right?"



"Oh," the medic blinked. "Um, I guess we could try that. If he ate properly, we could stimulate his body into replacing the blood..." He started towards the door only to stop, turn around and stare at the source of the extraordinarily loud grumbling.



"Eh," Uzumaki rubbed the back of his head, glancing around at everyone sheepishly. The medic just smiled in amusement.



"I'll bring something for you, too," he promised, and left the room.



"Uzumaki."



The blond turned to look at Itachi, his expression unexpectedly wary. "What?"



"What happened?" He left 'to Sasuke' unspoken, but the blond seemed to pick up on it anyway. Uzumaki bit his lip and turned back to the semi-conscious Sasuke for a moment, seemingly indecisive, before turning to Kakashi.



"Didn't Kakashi-sensei tell - " He stopped, eyes widening, wordlessly asking the question.



"Your sensei didn't make it," Sandaime told him gently, but irrefutably.



"Ah." Turning back to Sasuke hid his face from them, but Itachi could easily see the tension in his muscles as the blond head bowed slightly in grief. They remained in silence for a minute, but there were still too many questions requiring answers to allow for proper mourning now.



"Naruto, do you know how you came to be here?" Sandaime queried. After a moment, Uzumaki nodded his head slowly.



"I have a good idea." He paused, then continued. "I don't know that I should tell you, though."



"That's understandable," Sandaime waved off the apologetic undertones. "We don't have to go into details just yet. However, there are some answers I do need to hear right now."



Uzumaki nodded again. "If I can."



"Can you return the way you came?"



After a brief hesitation that Itachi was certain was emotionally based, Uzumaki shook his head in denial.



"Can anyone else come here?"



Again, a wordless negative response.



"Is there anyone else besides Kakashi and Sasuke who might have come with you?"



"There shouldn't be."



"And if there was?" Kakashi pressed. Itachi recalled the trail leading away from the training ground. Pakkun had yet to return with his report, which meant he was either still following whoever it was, or had been unavoidably detained.



Uzumaki turned to look at them with fierce eyes. "If there was anyone else," he answered, "then they wouldn't be friends."



* * *



It was well after midnight when Itachi finally returned home. The Hokage had dismissed him along with Kakashi following the arrival of Nara Shikaku, who had taken over guard duty for the displaced pair. That had only followed what had been an intriguing display of tactics by Uzumaki as he proceeded to not only shovel his own food into his mouth but simultaneously badger Sasuke into swallowing his pills and drinking his soup as well. It had been hard going at first, but once the initial movements had been made, Sasuke obeyed mechanically. Although as Uzumaki had pointed out, Sasuke probably would have eaten a shuriken if they'd placed one in his bowl, for all the attention he was paying to his food. Itachi had refrained from testing that theory, but he was curious all the same.



He moved quickly but quietly through the dimly lit hallway, but still not fast enough. He paused as a doorway opened, then closed again behind his father.



"Itachi. You're late."



"Ah," he acknowledged. "There was a complication." He didn't mention that it had nothing to do with the mission he'd so recently completed. The existence of the older Sasuke and Uzumaki was privileged information until further notice. Besides which, Itachi did not want his father to see Sasuke as he was. He simply would not understand what he was seeing.



"The mission?"



"The mission was a success."



Fugaku looked at him stonily. "Good."



They stared at each other in silence for a minute before another door slid open further along the corridor.



"Brother?" Sasuke stood in the doorway to his room, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "You're home?"



Itachi moved past his father to where Sasuke stood, collecting the younger boy into his arms in one swift movement.



"Brother?" Sasuke queried as he wrapped his legs around Itachi's waist, blinking curiously as he settled into his brother's arms.



"What does it look like?" Itachi asked lightly in return, keeping his eyes fixed on Sasuke's.



Eyes were supposed to be the windows of the soul according to the poets, but by themselves they were usually simply globules of liquid. He could pluck them from his little brother's head right now, and they would match with those of the older Sasuke, he was certain. No, what made the difference were the subtle muscle movements that kept not just Sasuke's eyes but his entire face a dynamic expression of emotion.



"Sasuke. You're keeping your brother from his rest."



Movement was the key. With it, his little brother was an open book before him, whereas his father was as uncommunicative as a blank page; unless...



He observed the slight but sharp intake of breath; the marginal widening of his eyes, the faint twitch of his hand towards his kunai -



"Brother?"



He looked back at Sasuke, who had wrinkled his face in dismay.



"It's fine, brother."



"Your eyes..."



He cast a final glance at their father, who returned the gaze stoically, sharingan activated in response to Itachi's.



"It's fine, little brother," he repeated. "It is past time you were in bed, though." He carried Sasuke into his room, closing the door behind them without another backward glance.



"I was in bed," Sasuke informed him forthrightly. "But I heard you come in, and I wanted to see you."



"And so you have." He lowered Sasuke gently onto his bed and reached to draw the covers over him, only to pull up short as the younger boy clung resolutely to his neck. Succumbing, he let Sasuke pull him down until the ends of his hair tickled at the boy's cheeks. "You know what?"



"What?"



"I wanted to see you, too."



Even in the faint moonlight filtering in through the window, Sasuke's smile was enough to light up the room. Brushing back a stray lock of hair, Itachi kissed his forehead briefly. Small arms hugged him fiercely for a brief moment, then released him. He stood back for a moment, watching his brother settle himself beneath the covers before making a decision.



"Move over," he ordered, and began methodically stripping off his gear. Sasuke obeyed with alacrity, and soon they were both ensconced beneath the blankets.



"Good night, brother."



"G'night."



Itachi lay awake for several more hours, simply watching his brother in sleep.

April '07 [rhionae@hotmail.com]