Revelation

OMG GUYS SORRY THIS IS SO LATE!!!! I fell asleep rlly early last night... 10:35... I know, rlly early. Anyway, I couldnt finish this last night and it's been bothering me all day... sorry...

SO, ENJOY!!

~♤~♤~♤~♤~♤~♤~♤~♤~♤~♤~♤~

"... obvious..." Sasuke stopped himself, staring at the piece of folded paper jutting out of the chair. A scrap of blue cloth was laying beside it.

Sasuke looked at the cloth, a confused expression on his face.

Kakashi frowned. "This is Sarada's. It's from the hoodie she wore when we rescued her from this place."

Sasuke looked at the paper inquisitively. "Did Sarada leave this note?" He asked, partially to himself, partially to Kakashi.

"Only one way to find out." Kakashi shrugged. Sasuke took the hint and opened the paper.

It wasn't from Sarada.

It was from Itachi.

Sasuke scanned the handwriting and was absolutely certain. "It's from Itachi."

"Well now, isn't that interesting? Our other missing Uchiha." Kakashi said, a smirk in his tone. "I wonder why he found this first..."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the paper, and started at the beginning. "To whoever finds this," He read aloud for Kakashi. Kakashi came and read over his shoulder, and Sasuke switched to just reading it in his head, while Kakashi did the same.

To whoever finds this.

I'm suspecting it's otōto, but it could very well be Sakura or Shisui. I'm not going to say for certain.

If you aren't Sasuke, I suspect you should hand this letter to him immediately. If you are Sasuke, first of all, hi. You're probably wondering where I went.

That just happens to be what this letter is about.

You see this fabric? This was specifically torn from Sarada's outfit from the days she spent in here. Kakashi is with you, I'm sure. Tell him to summon one of his mutts and find her with it.

Kakashi pouted. "They aren't mutts..."

But you'll have to be careful. I've managed to get inside the organisation, but they're being lead by Madara. I'm not sure how long I can stay. So far, Sarada is perfectly fine, and thriving under Madara. She has become stronger in a matter of days.

I am concerned, however, that Madara will hurt or kill her. I need a way to get her out of here. And you guys need to leave the past as soon as we get Sarada out.

From the day I disappeared, to a week and three days from then, meet up with me. Orochimaru's hideout in Hebi no Mori at noon.

It must only be you, understand? And when you do find Sarada, do not engage Madara.

Well, that's all. Take care, and remember, Sarada is safe. She's with me, and I will protect her with my life.

With my life.

-Onii-san

"Dāmn it." Kakashi muttered, leaning against the wall. "He's going to do it."

Sasuke's hands shook, but he kept himself steady. What if Itachi really didn't have a future? What if it was his destiny to be a hero?

Itachi. Don't do anything stupid.

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Boruto pushed off a log, trying to think of places they could be.

The old Uchiha Compoud... no. They had no reason to go back there.

Orochimaru's hideout... no, they had everything they needed from there.

Konoha... no, that was stupid. Why would they go there?

Mmm... the old Akatsuki hideout.

Why would they go there?

No, it made sense. Maybe they missed something about Sarada there, and... yeah, it was definitely there.

He sped up an managed to make it in time before they left. Hinata looked at her son in shock. "Boruto? What are you doing here? I thought Sakura--"

"I left her with Sasuke." Boruto told his mom, coming to a stop in front of the group. For some reason, Kakashi and Sasuke weren't with them. "Where's Uncle Sasuke and Grandpa Kakashi?"

"In there." Sakura said, leaning down and pointing into the house. "I don't know what they're doing, but they're taking forever." As if summoned, Sasuke and Kakashi appeared in the doorway, holding a cloth and a note, followed by Pakkun.

"Okay, we have to leave. Now." Kakashi said, throwing Izumi the note and turning to a random direction. "We're late for a meeting."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Boruto frowned. "What's in there?" He looked toward the house.

Kakashi looked at Sasuke. Sasuke looked at Kakashi. He nodded and turned around, then gestured for Izumi, Naruto and Shisui to come with him.

Kakashi, followed by Boruto, Hinata and Sakura went inside the building again, then lead the way into the familiar hallway that ended up at the room Sarada had stayed in while she was kidnapped, and opened the door. There was the chair, and there were even little splatters of blood from when Shisui had forced her to cut herself repeatedly. "This is Sarada's room." Kakashi said.

"Sure. Knew that." Boruto nodded, walking into it. "This was where she was held when she was kidnapped. This is basic stuff."

"No, it's not." Kakashi walked over to the wall on the west side of the chair. He examined the bricks closely, then pressed one. He waited for a few seconds, and a click was heard. Smirking in satisfaction, he then pressed another one, followed by another click. Then he pressed the one beside that one, and a door cut into the wall was revealed, sliding open. "This is the room where the real Sarada was staying in."

It was exactly like the other one, a chair in the middle, dark, cold, the only thing that was off was that there was a little more blood.

Sakura gasped. "My poor baby..." She wasn't too concerned-- Sarada knew how to heal herself. It was mentally that she couldn't heal herself, and mental health was what Sakura was concerned for. Very concerned. 

"Sarada was tortured here." Hinata remarked, Byakugan activated. "But she wasn't in the other room. Which was the room we were brought to."

Kakashi nodded. "We were locked in the room with the clone the whole time."

"So Sarada could hear everything that we were saying, everything that was going on in that other room, but she couldn't talk to us..." Boruto sighed. "That had to be tough. And she was hurt, too."

"Yes." Kakashi looked around. "But don't forget that the clone thing was her idea in the first place. Well, I'm guessing that's it. Do you guys have any other questions, or can we get back to helping Sarada?"

"What was the note about?" Boruto asked. Kakashi tossed it to him, and he skimmed through it quickly. He cursed and whirled on his heel, disappearing down the hallway. "COME ON, GUYS, WE'LL MISS THE MEETING!" He called behind him.

"Where does that child get his energy from...?" Hinata muttered, walking with Kakashi and Sakura out the door.

"Naruto." Sakura and Kakashi said simultaneously. They looked at each other and almost laughed.

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Sarada was supposed to be napping. That was what she had told Madara she was doing-- that was why she'd excused herself from lunch with the Akatsuki, and that was why she was currently lying in bed thinking about her life choices.

She turned around, then turned around to face the other direction, but was still uncomfortable. Dang it... why can't I sleep?

"Sarada?" Someone said at the door. Sarada recognized the voice as her uncle's an let him in. Itachi came in, a worried look in his eyes, and sat at the foot of the bed she was laying on. "How are you doing?"

"Holding up." Sarada gave him an encouraging smile. She'd ditched the Konoha headband, but left it at her bedside. Her hair was down, longer than normal, and her bangs were untucked. Sarada was currently sporting a sleeping-croptop and shorts. "Is there anything you needed?"

"Just checking on you." Itachi said, looking at the wall. "Is the cut feeling better?"

"It isn't bothering me anymore." Sarada nodded. "Thanks for fixing it."

"I'm no medic, but your chakra was depleted and you couldn't heal yourself, so I had to make do." Itachi said, looking her in the eyes. "You didn't have to do that, you know. The challenge was stupid. Minato isn't called the Yellow Flash for nothing, you know."

"Yeah." Sarada laughed. "It was kind of stupid. That doesn't mean I can't try my best though. And it was my cunning that that helped me get the kunai."

"I know." Itachi sighed. "You're Sasuke's future, you know that? Eventually you will be my niece. I can't just let you die here."

"I won't die here." Sarada leaned forward and touched her uncle's Akatsuki cloak-covered arm. "Don't worry, you'll still have a niece. You'll just have to wait, like, 16 or 17 years. I'm too lazy to do the math."

Itachi smiled. Then he inhaled deeply. "Sarada... if... if I don't make it, I want to make a few things clear."

"You'll make it, Itachi-jii." Sarada smiled confidently, but she was worried. Itachi was planning something, and Sarada was pretty sure she wouldn't like the outcome.

"I know, but, just in case," Itachi said. "You have to listen to your mom and dad. Don't forget to do the basic stuff like brush your teeth and all that. Get strong; physically and emotionally. Don't let the world get you down."

Sarada nodded solemnly.

"Now, onto the important stuff." Itachi broke into a hesitant grin. "You're not allowed to date until you're at least 26. And until then, no boys are supposed to so much as look at you."

Sarada laughed, then rolled her eyes. "You know I'll have to go to school and see the other gender eventually. And 26 is WAY too old. If I wait that long, I'll be alone forever."

"That's good. Lets go with that."

"No!"

"Why not? Forever alone means no one can break my princess' heart while I'm not there."

"You know I'm a social person! I like being around people! Unlike you and my emo dad." Well, he's emo now... in the future he's just annoying.

"And? You definitely got that from Sakura."

Sarada groaned and lay back on the bed. "That is SO unfair, Uncle Itachi."

"Yeah yeah. No boys until you're 23. Does that sound better?" Itachi asked, a smirk growing on his face.

"16."

"I'll negotiate for 20."

"Fine." Sarada grinned. "But I'll have you know, my family doesn't have a history of obeying the rules."

Itachi laughed. "I'll keep that in mind. And if you do break the rules, my ghost will come back and haunt your boyfriend forever."

"Lets not joke about that, okay?" Sarada sighed, suddenly getting downcast. "We'll just say that in the future, you'll be there to do a background check of all my boyfriend's and snoop around their houses, deal?"

"Deal." Itachi nodded.

"Promise you won't die on me?" Sarada asked.

Itachi looked at her, a somber expression entering his wise-beyond-his-years onyx orbs. "I can't promise that. But I promise I will try to keep myself alive."

"I guess that's all we really can promise." Sarada sighed. Then she looked up at Itachi. "I love you though."

Itachi smiled. "I love you too, Sarada."

He looked around, until his eyes widened. "Oh, I have to go somewhere and I'm running late. If you need anything, ask Minato or Madara or whoever you find first." He went to the door. "I'll let you take that nap you've been wanting, huh?" His words became sluggish and fast, and he pulled the door open. "I'll see you later, okay? Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

He disappeared out the door and shut it.

"You're hiding something from me, aren't you, Uncle Itachi?" Sarada frowned and slid out of bed. "I guess now I can just cancel that nap."

(This is NOT me, fyi. If I'm taking a nap, the world could be ending and I wouldn't care.)

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Itachi crept through the forest, sneaking out of the hideout, and like a panther stalking it's prey, slowly made his way out of Orochimaru's territory. 

Itachi was rushing, he knew, but he also knew that he was late for the meeting. And if Sasuke found the note, as Itachi suspected he had, then he would be on his way as well. And he would also be very wary of a trap, so Itachi had to get there first, to show him that the note was really from him.

Running at full speed tired him out easily before the surgery, but he was feeling a lot better now that he wasn't dying. His eyes still bled sometimes when he really overused his Sharingan, but his eyesight had begun to get better.

Reaching the meeting spot, Itachi decided to rest on a tree trunk. Scanning his surroundings for straglers, he heard a branch across from him begin to quake. Reaching for a kunai in his pouch instinctively, he drew it and held it protectively in front of him.

There he was-- Sasuke. So he'd come after all. He had gotten the note. And soon after him, Izumi, Naruto and Shisui appeared.

"Itachi!" Sasuke called. "Come out come out wherever you are."

Itachi stood up, and slipped the kunai into his pocket. "Here." Sasuke's eyes softened with relief. "I see you've brought the whole gang."

"I left our younger selves back at the house because it would be too dangerous." Sasuke said, walking over to his brother.

"So you left your younger selves, but brought Boruto?" Itachi asked, sensing the kid over in the bushes.

Sasuke sighed and rubbed his temples. Naruto rolled his eyes and turned to the bush. "Boruto Uzumaki, come out now."

Boruto climbed out, grinning sheepishly. "Hey dad."

"Hey Boruto. Wanna explain why you're hiding out in a bush, 'ttebayo?" Naruto asked, not bothering to hide the annoyance in his voice.

Boruto put his hands in his pockets and scuffed the dirt, whistling awkwardly.

"That wasn't that bad. It took me five minutes to find you that time." Itachi shrugged.

"You're being nice, Itachi." Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You noticed him when we first got here, didn't you?"

Itachi smirked. "He was being really loud."

"I just snapped one twig, 'ttebasa!! How did you hear that?!" Boruto complained, taking his hands out of his pockets.

"That's not what we're here for, Boruto." Naruto reminded his son. He then looked up at Itachi. "How's Sarada, 'ttebayo?"

"She's good." Itachi sighed. "She's... She's really good. She took a kunai from Minato."

Kakashi, who'd shown up sometime while they were talking, froze up, eyes widening. "Minato-sensei?!" He sat down on a log.

"Yeah, Minato-sama." Itachi nodded.

Kakashi seemed to be really affected. "How?"

"It's a reanimation juts--"

"No, how did she get the kunai?!" Kakashi asked, as if that was more important than knowing how his long-dead sensei was alive again. "Obito, Rin and I tried for years. How did she do it?!"

"She tricked him." Itachi smirked. Sasuke grinned.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "My dad's back?" Boruto turned to Itachi, excitement in his eyes. Minato-ojii-chan? YEAH! I might finally get to meet him, 'ttebasa!!

"Reanimation jutsu." Itachi repeated. "Along with the rest of the past Hokage. I'm thinking he's planning to use them to destroy Konoha."

"Can't you use that one jutsu you used on Shisui?" Izumi asked Itachi for the first time.

"No. I don't have Hashirama Senju's chakra." He remarked. "I can only use it every few years."

"Okay... who can then?" Shisui asked Itachi.

Itachi looked at his friend. "That I know of, no one."

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Sarada watched her uncle converse with her family, under the cover of the trees. She was high up looking down, and could just barely make out what they were talking about.

The sun started to go down, and Itachi finished up his conversation. He said goodbye to everyone, and nodded at Sasuke. They seemed to be agreeing to something, and then everyone else disappeared into the forest.

Itachi stood still, then took a deep breath, and turned around to head back. "Sarada, you can come out now." He sighed, then shouted.

Sarada froze. How did he find me?! I made sure to be extra careful this time.

She climbed down until she stood beside her smirking, satisfied uncle. "You know, Sarada, if you wanted to come, you could've just asked.