Itachi heard voices. He recognized one belonging to Nik.
"Uncle do you think he'll be ok?"
"He should be" A deep voice responded "Ninjas are weak but not that weak"
"Momma doesn't want me to be a ninja"
"What do you want to be then?" Nik was silent for a minute then said
"A geneticist"
"What?! What is that?"
"A form of a scientist"
"You're too smart for your own good. Your sister told me of what you did to protect your father. Im proud of you."
"Really?"
"Yes and Natty didn't have to tell me. I could sense it"
"You could sense my charka all the way from where you were?" The man nodded then frowned
"It wasn't your 'chakra' I sensed"
"Oh yeah that's right…"The voices started to fade as Itachi fell into a deeper sleep. The next time he heard a voice it was Sasuke's
"You better not die Itachi. I don't think Natara could take it…or me" He paused "Even though we've had our differences and you've tried to kill my friends you're still my brother" Sasuke's voice faded as once again Itachi fell into a deeper sleep.
Natara sat on a small couch in Itachi's room, watching him sleep while Tony sat on her right and Sasuke on her left. Her brother's head was against the wall with his eyes closed and his arms crossed. Sasuke sat with Natsuki's dog. She thought if the stuffed animal was near her Dad, then he'd somehow wake up. All three were silent until Tony said
"You should get some rest Sis"
"Im fine"
"Worrying bout him isn't gonna do anything"
"I feel better being here than anywhere else"
"So I guess the fact that Uncle had to carry you back here cuz of exhaustion doesn't matter huh?"
"Shut up"
"Awww and here I thought you were gonna cuss me out for just being a good brother" He heard Sasuke laugh a little. He opened his eyes to see his sister with her middle finger up "That's real mature Natara"
"Whatever"
"Im bein dead serious about this Sis so don't get mad"
"About what?"
"Have you thought about what you're gonna do if he doesn't make it?" There was silence "Cuz there's no way in hell Im letting you stay here. You need to be home"
"Thanks for the concern but I have no intention of leavin"
"What?! Why?" He almost jumped up
"Nik and Natsuki need to learn more about his…family and home" she looked down
"Who's gonna be here to look after you? You forget I just started college, Marcus is always disappearin and Julius…" He didn't finish his sentence. Their oldest brother had been in the Navy for a few years. Natara hadn't seen him in almost two. Every time she got a break from a mission he wasn't there or if he was able to come home she wasn't there
"How was he?" She asked referring to the last time he was home.
"Good, would've been better if you were there" He smiled "We pulled this prank on Pops"
"What else is new" she mumbled "You guys torture him" Her brothers had a habit of pulling over the top pranks on their dad. Since he was such a serious guy it made it all the worse.
"You shouldve seen his face. We made some fake tickets to a Yankees game since he was goin up that way with some friends. Marcus was able to make tickets for all of them then Julius gave em to him and made up some story about a friend not likin the Yankees and giving them to him. Pops bought it. Julius went on the trip with em but he had a real ticket. He recorded it when they got up to the ticket window and the chick said they're tickets weren't real. He was so heated. Julius went to the game while Dad and his friends stood outside pissed". Natara laughed
"Marcus mustve did a real good job. I didn't know he was goin to school to be a counterfeiter"
"All three of us got an earful when he came back" He paused "You still didn't tell me who's gonna stay here with you? Kaori is planning on goin back home"
"I'll take care of her" Sasuke spoke up.
"You don't have to"
"I know that but I want to. You'll need help and you three are family now"
"Thanks Sasuke" Natara smiled. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall. Soon all three were sleep, Natara with her head on Sasuke's shoulder and Anthony with his head against the wall also but snoring. That's how she found them when she opened the door
"Guess they're all sleep" Sakura said as she walked in with her guest behind her. The young man with her looked exactly like Tony except he had curlier hair and wore dress pants with a white unbuttoned dress shirt showing his undershirt underneath. He moved with a confidence that Sakura noticed immediately when the Hokage had her take him to Itachi's room. Even though he looked like Tony he was different. Sakura found herself blushing when the Fifth had introduced him. What made it worse was the fact that Kakashi was right next to her but she wasn't the only one he affected. Even the Hokage herself had stammered over words. Actually he seemed to affect all of the women
" So this is Itachi Uchiha" He put his hands in his pockets and looked at the sleeping figure.
"Yes" Sakura answered. She glanced over at Sasuke who frowned. Sakura knew he wasn't sleep. The young man turned around to face the couch
"Who are you?" Sasuke said opening his eyes
"You'll find out in a minute" He smirked then walked over to Tony. He knelt down and covered his nose and mouth so he couldn't breath. He pushed the hand away
"What the f…"
"Wake up sleeping beauty"
"Whoa don't pull that, you coulda killed me" Tony gave him an evil look then went back to sleep. He smiled then turned to Natara. Sasuke watched him as he kissed her forehead and whispered
"Hey Angel Baby". She frowned
"Nobody calls me that cept my brother" Her eyes immediately opened. She shrieked
"MARCUS!" She jumped up throwing her arms around his neck and causing him to fall back.
"Take that playboy outside, Im tryin to sleep" Tony mumbled
The nurse walked to Itachi's room humming to herself. She'd be off in ten minutes and couldn't wait. As she opened his door she scanned the room then walked in. As she walked closer to the bed she realized it was empty and felt a breeze. The window was open. She groaned. He'd run off, the same as his brother had done a few years back. She walked down to the front desk and told the receptionist calmly
"Itachi Uchiha is gone"
Itachi walked through what had once been his home. He'd gone through his, Sasuke's and his parents rooms. Their old home had so many memories. He finally stopped at the spot where his parents bodies were found
"I wish I could change things" He mumbled as he looked around
"I thought you might be here" Sasuke appeared behind him "They never tore down the Uchiha compound. Its like a …" His voice trailed off. There was some silence then Itachi said
"Im sorry Sasuke"
"For what?"
"Everything. I tried to protect you" He sighed "But things didn't work out how I thought. When I found out about our family I didn't think I could continue to live. I miss them"
"Me too". Itachi turned around and looked at Sasuke. His brother was growing up. There were so many years with him that he missed that they couldn't get back. Sasuke walked up to him "Its ok to cry, I used to do it all the time". Itachi raised an eyebrow then pulled his brother into a hug
"I promise Im not going to leave you again Sasuke". He didn't say anything; he simply closed his eyes and remembered what it was like when they were younger
"Remember when I used to follow you everywhere?"
"Yeah, I'd get annoyed and tell you to go home then you'd start crying and I'd feel bad"
"I didn't cry that much" He paused "You're not bad for a brother"
"Same to you". Sasuke pulled away
"You should check on Natara,, angry doesn't describe how she was when I left"
"I will". They started to walk towards the door
"Do you know what happened with Nik?"
"No" He frowned "All I remember seeing is a bright light"
"That's what I saw. Anthony, his friend. Sakura, Kisame and I saw a light come from the house and felt what seemed like an earthquake."
"Did you ask Natty about it?"
"She wont talk about it. If someone brings it up she pretends not to hear them or changes the subject and Nik has been with some mysterious guy since you were brought here"
"Does Natara know?"
"Yeah" He yawned "She says he's a family friend and leaves it at that"
"I'll find out later, you need some more sleep Sasuke"
"I'll be fine" He allowed a smile "Hungry?"
"A little"
"Good, I know this ramen stand not too far from here"
Natara was past angry with Itachi but she didn't let it show as she talked to Tsunade outside of the hospital with Kaori
"Thanks for all your help Ms. Tsunade" Natara said
"Your welcome. I became sort of attached to you when you were here"
"I know, I really appreciate everything"
"Well if you ever need any help don't be afraid to stop by. I'd really like to know who trained your kids. They're a lot better than some of my top shinobi"
"Maybe I'll tell you sometime" She smirked
"Natara Uchiha I'll see you around"
"That's not my last name" Natara frowned. Tsunade glanced at the ring around her neck. Kisame had told her Itachi wanted her to have it so she put a string through it and put it around her neck.
"Im sure thats not where he intended for the ring to go" Tsunade smiled then disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"So Mrs. Uchiha whats the plan now?"
"Be quiet Kaori, lets go find my idiot brothers"
The sun was starting to set as Natara entered her small hotel room. Natsuki was with her brothers and Red. Kaori was helping Nick find the agent who had betrayed them, Agent Walker, and no one knew where Kisame had gone. She sighed then moved to turn on the light but a hand grabbed her wrist. She almost attacked when her eyes adjusted and she saw it was Itachi. All the anger from earlier came back can she moved to punch him but he caught her fist then pinned her against the wall.
"Get off of me Itachi! I was so worried and now you just show up like everything's ok" She kept wriggling but he had her wrists pinned above her head
"I didn't mean to do that, Im sorry"
"Let go!" Tears started to come down her face. He let go of her. She pushed him away "I thought you'd…left again" She started to walk past him but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back
"I told you I wasn't going anywhere Natara and I mean it" He whispered. He saw the ring and pulled it from her neck. He took the string off then grabbed her hand gently and put it on her ring finger "Since you forgot, I'll say it again, Im not going anywhere" He wiped her tears away then kissed her lightly on her mouth. She put her arms around his neck, stood on her tiptoes and kissed him back. He wrapped his arms around her waist then slowly led her to the bed.
"This is why I didn't want you to turn the lights on" He whispered in her ear. Natara felt herself blush but didn't have time to think as he started kissing her again.
Two Months Later
Natara Uchiha sat in a large tree dressed in white pants with a matching jacket with a hood and shoes. She looked at her hands which were covered by white gloves then looked at the ground. She saw snow. She leaned back and sighed. It was so cold she could see her breath. She pulled the hood over her head then closed her eyes
"How long do we wait?" Sasuke asked in the branch above her dressed in a white ANBU uniform
"Patience" She replied. She had been asked to lead a team to Russia, to track down a man believed to be giving U.S. military info to a group there. Besides herself there were also three other guys. Sasuke had wanted to come since he was curious about exactly what it was his sister-in-law did. Her superiors would've normally said no but since Sasuke had become an ANBU captain (and the fact he was a ninja) they decided he had just as much experience so they agreed. They were outside of a huge warehouse that was on the side of a mountain. A small village was below it.
"Hi I'd like to order a large pizza" A voice came over her and Sasuke's earpiece
"What kind sir?"
"Cheese"
"Would you like anything else?"
"Yeah a two liter of something to do" The voices started laughing. Natara rolled her eyes. Since many of the Eagles were under the age of twenty five, they had gained the reputation of being clowns. Indeed the atmosphere at their headquarters was relaxed, not like the CIA which plenty of them went into. They were allowed to play video games and watch tv when not on missions. The only time when they were required to be serious was when in front of superiors. Sasuke had learned this when he was allowed to go with Tony. Compared with ANBU there was nothing serious about the Eagles except how good of an agent they were. That was the only thing
"Would you idiots shut up?!" Natara said
"I would but Im so bored" Came the accented voice
"Joaquin think of a happy place" Tony said. Natara couldn't believe at first that she'd been allowed to work with her brother; usually siblings were put on different teams. She decided it must've been because this was her last mission. She had made that clear before they'd left.
"You guys I cant feel my hands" Red whined
"You are such a …"
"Watch your mouth" Natara said
"Wow this is comin from the queen of potty mouths" He laughed
"Really?" Sasuke said
"Of course, that's what she was known for"
"You got a big mouth Joaquin"
"Im seein movement" Red whispered. Snow started to fall. Natara stood up
"You guys remember what you're doin?"
"Get the files and stuff he stole" Red answered
"And can someone please tell me why we aren't takin him out?" Tony asked
"Cuz the CIA wants to monitor him more, I don't know why. They're such idiots"
"Ten minutes" Natara said as she stretched. She looked at Sasuke. He nodded. They were doing the distraction "Lets go" They jumped out of the tree then she and Sasuke walked up to the door. She knocked then looked at her watch. An older man with a beard threw the door open. He wore a large coat and didn't look happy to be disturbed He eyed them suspiciously
"What?" He asked in Russian.
"Hi, Im hear to give you a warning" She replied back in the same language. He was surprised at first
"You speak Russian well, what is this about a warning?"
" From the people I work for. You're to stop buying military documents and files from your friend or you wont like the consequences"
"What?!" He was silent for a minute then started laughing "Little woman how dare you come here and say that to me!" He yelled for his friends to come to the door. That took care of any guards. Four men came crowded around the door
"What is it?" One asked
"She has told me to stop dealing with our 'friend'" The others started laughing. Sasuke frowned. He couldn't understand them and didn't like how they were acting. Red had offered to teach it to him since he had the Sharigan which would help him learn faster but he'd said no. He hadn't thought he'd need it
"You come to my house to threaten me so you and your partner will pay for your arrogance" The man said. He moved to grab her but she dodged it. That made him angrier. "Kill them both!" He shouted. Natara looked at her watch, time was almost up. She had to make this quick. Just as she and Sasuke were about to attack there was a large explosion. The men turned back to the building
"Shit! Natara, Sasuke move!" They started to run. They met at another large tree. Snowboards were waiting for them. Tony jumped out of the tree
"Why'd I have to watch these?"
"Stop whining" Natara punched him on the shoulder before grabbing a scarlet and gray one that had her name grafettied on the back. They heard what sounded like an engine racing towards them
"Snowmobile" Red mumbled. He threw goggles to everyone
"Are you girls waitin for an invitation? GO!" Natara said. Sasuke had a worried look on his face
"Dude all those lessons you were forced to take before the mission are gonna pay off. This is great!" He pulled out a camcorder.
"Youre such an idiot and you know that's gonna be confiscated" Joaquin said then mumbled something in Spanish as he darted down the hill. Marcus followed. Red went next
"Come on Sasuke" Natara smiled. He went first then she followed him. "What did you and Red do?" She yelled to Joaquin
"Don't ask" . She heard snowmobiles coming towards them. She turned to look back. The man and his friends had gotten back up. There had to be at least ten guys following them. She saw a jump up ahead. She flipped as they went into the air, in the process she threw the three kunai she'd borrowed from Sasuke earlier then landed. She heard screams then crashes behind her. She smirked
"That was aweaome! DUDE you should've seen what your sister just did!" Red yelled to Marcus who wasn't paying attention because he was enjoying the snow too much "I got it on camera!". She looked at Sasuke who at first had been wobbly but seemed to like it. She heard more shouts in Russian. She loved her job…
"Snowboarding…" Natara whispered as she slept. Itachi watched her. He smiled. He was finally happy. Having married Natara a month before in Konoha. Now they were in America at her parents house in the neighborhood where she'd grown up. He got up quietly then put on some pants and a shirt. He left the bedroom and walked down the hall that led to the living room. Tony was sprawled out on the floor with Natsuki sleeping right next to him. Marcus was sleeping against the wall. It looked like he was going to fall over. Sasuke had managed to get the couch and was turned with his back to everyone. He scanned the room for his son. He finally saw him sleeping in the big armchair in the corner. He walked past them to the door then went outside. The sun was just starting to rise as he stepped out. A cool breeze was blowing. He saw two figures standing on the grass talking, one shorter than the other. He walked up to them
"Ahhh, you're awake" Mr. Stone grinned at him. He was taller than Itachi and had a shaved head. Tony would call him Mr. Clean, not that Itachi knew who that was. Natara had to explain it to him. He had the bearing of someone who'd been trained which is what he'd found out when Itachi met him. He had been in the army while his son was in the Navy. Talking about the oldest son was a touchy subject for not just Mr. Stone but his whole family.
"Its about time" The other man mumbled. He was a shorter, tanned guy with spiky black hair. He wore a jeans and a white shirt while his friend wore shorts and a sleeveless black shirt( even though Mr. Stone was older he still looked young). "So did you talk to your wife?" He crossed his arms
"She said you'll take them for a few months"
"Bah! That's it?!"
"Yes, you're just training them".
"She didn't tell you anything else?" Mr. Stone asked
"No" Itachi wondered what they were getting at "Is there something I should know?". Mr. Stone and his friend exchanged glances then he said
"You never found out exactly what Nik did that day did you?". He shook his head "Its not my place then, talk to Natara". There was a pause. Itachi had decided he wouldn't bother Natara about it and that she'd tell him when she was ready
"When do they leave?" Itachi asked
"After their birthday party today". The twins had turned five a couple moths ago but hadn't been able to celebrate it so they were being thrown a party.
"Well now that that's outta the way, what do you want to do?" The shorter man asked
"Lets go to the park"
"What? Why?"
"So you can finally spar against my son-in-law. You'll see ninjas aren't that bad" Mr. Stone put his arm around Itachi
"You sure? It'll be short" The man grinned. He was cocky.
"Of course, what'll ya say Itachi?"
"Fine but don't cry when you lose". The man raised an eyebrow
"Wait! I wanna come!" Natara raced out the door wearing a scarlet tank and gray bottoms. Her hair was all over her head. She was in the process of putting in a poofy ponytail since she'd hadn't flat ironed her hair
"Come on then Angel" Her Dad said. Itachi smiled. She blushed
"Hey I don't want any lovey dovey garbage" The man said
"Uncle why are you always so grumpy?"
"Because its fun" He started to walk away. Mr. Stone followed him. Itachi pulled Natara closer to him and kissed her forehead
"You're in time to see me wipe the smile off of his face" He started to walk and pulled her along
"You have know idea of you're getting into" she mumbled. She looked at the ring on her finger then smiled.
A note frome me: yay! i did it, i finished the story. hope you liked it. i know i never revealed who her 'uncle' was but look at the clues and you may be able to figure it out. there are many hints. i chose not to end the story with telling where each person's life went and blah, blah,blah...i thought this was better. also i may do another story to go with this, a sequel i guess but im not sure. comments, complaints, then send me a message. thanks (oh yeah and did anyone notice the scarlet and gray references. im a Buckeye fan! Go Bucks!)