Hi! This the sequel to Blurred Lines. It's going to be somewhat lighter in tone, although, don't worry, I'm not quite done torturing our girl. If you haven't read the original, please do.

It also starts off almost immediately after the previous story. Please, leave me some lovely comments!

Chapter One
Daifuku

They came out in a thin, underground room. The trip had been disorienting, through a strange dimension, full of geometrically perfect shapes.

Itachi was just glad to have found solid ground. The cave was small, and dark.

A moment, and Obito lit a torch, which illuminated a thin bedroll and a few crates. It wasn't much.

"You take all the girls here?" Itachi asked, lightly.

"I uh, no. You're the first."

"Well, don't take any more. It's sad."

He huffed. "Rude."

She stumbled down onto the bedroll, stretching out. "I'm taking your bed."

"Sure," he said, leaning against the wall of the cave. "I took us here because it's one of the few completely safe from my associates."

She nodded, carefully, and unrolled a scroll, summoning up the tiniest bit of nature chakra. The seal regurgitated her ink and brush set. She took it out, and started painting counter-seals on her wrists and ankles.

"So, tell me about them?"

"The Akatsuki is an organization based in the Land of Rain. The other leader of the group, Pein, is also the leader of Amegakure."

"That's one way to do it," she said.

"Right, yeah. Most of the group is based there, under Pein. I worked mostly independently from them, with a being called Zetsu. He's our biggest problem right now. Pein will expect me to report back occasionally, but I can play my old self well enough to fool him - our plans are a few years from fruition, so there's no rush," he explained. Now that they were alone, he took off his mask. The pale, half-waxy face was familiar, and would have been handsome were it not for his disfigurement.

"I follow," she said. "So you don't intend to move in on Pein until we're ready."

"No, I don't think that's a good idea. He's the only member of Akatsuki that I'm worried about defeating. Zetsu is a different kind of problem, however. He's a plant person, and the source of the Hashirama cells that power both of us. And Akatsuki's spymaster, to boot. So we both might have to play along," he explained.

"How much playing along will I have to do?" Itachi finally got one seal off. The other three would be easy enough to do next.

He shrugged. "He's suspicious by nature, but you might not have to spend much time with him. I do have an idea. Pein's very dangerous, and most of the members of the group are formidable. S-Class, exclusively." He glanced away. "To explain, I was trapped under a rock, and lost an eye during the Third Shinobi World War. I was saved by an old man who called himself Uchiha Madara. He… convinced me to go along with his plans for the Infinite Tsukuyomi, the world-spanning genjutsu.

"I went along with it, for the most part. He eventually died, in order to further the plan. But before he died, he implanted his eyes into a young man from Hidden Rain, who grew up to be Pein. Madara had the Rinnegan, the legendary dojutsu. The plan was eventually to resurrect Madara, using the Rinnegan, but Pein has always had his own plans. So I've been researching and experimenting how to recreate the Rinnegan, since Madara developed it initially."

She shifted forward, uneasy. "So, this Pein has the Rinnegan. That's why you fear him."

He nodded. "He also has a fanatically loyal subordinate named Konan, who never leaves his side. She's dangerous, as well. I doubt I can beat them both. So, my offer is that we infuse you with both Hashirama's cells and Madara's DNA, so you develop the Rinnegan, as well."

Itachi's mouth flopped open. "Me? I'm not - that's not - how?"

"It appears that the Rinnegan develops from an Uchiha and a Senju that are evenly matched, and in conflict. You have no easy rival of Senju descent, but we can fool your eyes, which I think will be enough. We might have to modify your body quite a bit, but I wouldn't do it without your consent."

"Why not you?" she asked. "You're half Hashirama cells already."

"I don't have the Eternal Mangekyo. I don't even have my second Mangekyo eye," he said. "And to do that… we'll definitely need Zetsu, and we might even need a second, less trustworthy person. Orochimaru."

She stilled. "Is that wise?"

"I intend to offer him a body of Hashirama cells, and a set of spare Sharingan. The chakra network around the eyes will need to be sophisticated, but that's not half of what we'll need for the Rinnegan."

Itachi drew back, carefully. "And he'll be satisfied with that?"

"I expect he will. And, the second reason I don't want to operate on myself: I want to be there, in case either Zetsu or Orochimaru try anything." He rubbed his hand through his hair. "Orochimaru is not unreasonable; if we offer him the generous gift of a new body, and a superior one, he'll honor it."

She considered her hands. "And you think this will work? The Rinnegan?"

He shrugged, languidly. "Well, there's a chance. It's not really a fair offer, because I can't just offer you the eyes. And it would be a major surgery, replacing a lot of your body - most of your major organs, likely. But it's the least I can do, considering that you have no village anymore."

She stared at the rough, dirt floor. "What choice did I have? Danzou would never have stopped, and the Third was never going to stop him."

He didn't immediately respond. She stared for a long minute, before he spoke again.

"Like I said, it's the least I can offer you. I'm not going to tell you that you're better off without Konoha, but maybe a nearly godlike dojutsu will, uh, take the edge off, you know?"

She forced a chuckle. "I don't know if that's how it works."

"Yeah, but like - we don't know each other very well, do we? I can't really say anything that will really help," he said. "And your Mangekyo - I can get it, because I remember what it was like with mine, but… it's still not the same."

Itachi nodded, and folded her arms around her knees, huddling in the cool cave. "He was harsh, and he always had so many expectations," she explained, slowly. "But when I really needed him, he was there. He loved me. He loved me enough to give up his dreams for my future for what I needed right then in the present, and…" She cut herself off, eyes flooding with tears. "If that's not love, I don't know what is!"

He stepped forward, leaning down on his haunches, and stretched his arms forward, clearly wanting to comfort. "Hey, hey, hey, that's - that's really nice, that he did that for you. He sounds absolutely wonderful. You loved him. That's why it hurts. But you'll never forget that, and he'll always know that he cared." He chuckled, wetly. "You wanna know something about the Mangekyo I always thought was nice? It changes, before they die. Just before - not long, and only when there's almost no chance of saving them. But it does. So he saw that your eyes change, and he knew that you loved him, that much. That's a nice thing, I think."

She nodded, dumb in her grief.

"Can I hug you? I don't really know whether I should, so I'm just asking, oh, I'm messing this comforting thing up, aren't I?"

Itachi nodded again, and he gently rested his long arms around her, squeezing gently. It was nice. He smelled of dirt and something soft, floral.

"Honestly, don't worry about the Rinnegan thing. We'll figure it out."

"I want it," she said, surprising herself. "You've been very kind to me, you know. And I don't - my body is, well, I'm not that attached to it."

His arms were still around her. "You don't have to decide right now. Get some sleep, and I'll take you to your brother."

"No," she countered, sharper than she meant. "I don't need to think about it. You don't understand. I - I was born male. I've modified this one to be feminine, or well, to go through female puberty. It's not - well, it's not very normal, so if you need to hack it up a little, that's - I'm okay with that."

"Oh," he muttered, drawing back. "But you look - I would never have guessed. You look perfectly natural. I, uh, don't mean this in a bad way - or, I mean, I don't mean to pry. But can I ask - about your… uh, your parts?"

She could feel herself going red. "I removed my testicles at the age of eight, because I hated them. But I have the other bits. If your Hashirama cells can make me a vagina, I'd sign up for it without even the promise of the Rinnegan."

He nodded. "Well, if we're sharing, I'm half-goo myself, down there. It has to be a large part of your body, so I was planning to incorporate half of the cells with Hashirama's original DNA, and half with Madara's DNA. It'd be most of your internal organs, so I think it'd be easy to modify a vagina out of it. We'd need to make sure the DNA was female, so maybe the genitals would need a different kind, but we can do it."

"Okay," she agreed, gently. "I'll do it, then."

"Good," he nodded, dumbly. "We might need to find some female DNA for the vagina, but we'll figure it out."

She shrugged. "If you think so."

He nodded. "Like I said, that is the least I can do." He stood up. "Now, get some rest."

Itachi nodded, dumbly. "I will."

Obito had left her in her old backyard, in the dead of night, muttering something about finding her a vagina. Which was funnier than she'd expected, to hear out loud.

He'd taken one of her crows - Kuro, because they all had the same name. She was to summon the crow when she was ready to come back.

She was wearing the outfit she'd worn the night of that fateful clan meeting - her yukata, in black and gold, although it was torn and bloody. She slipped in through the dead of night, sliding doors open gently. First, she padded to her room on bare feet - it was untouched. She grabbed the things she'd come for - more clothes, some notes on her jutsu, spare brush and ink, and a picture of them as a happy family. Itachi was a boy in that photo, but it still meant something to her.

She also took all of her spare kunai, because Obito had said that part of the fun of being a missing-nin meant that you couldn't just hop on down to a master craftsman and order a new set. Sometimes, you had to make do.

Her hands lingered over the spare sets of fans. The original ones, that Mikoto had given her, she left. Somehow, it didn't feel right, taking them.

She sealed all of this into a scroll. Then she ducked into Sasuke's room. He was sleeping, all contorted and spread over the sheets, his shirt riding up.

Itachi leaned down, and gently stroked his hair.

"Hey, Sasuke," she whispered.

He turned, in his sleep. "Nee-chan, I'm sleepy," he muttered.

"I know. But I have to tell you something so you need to get up."

"Okay, Itachi," he said, blinking. "Itachi?" He opened his mouth to shout, but she covered it, quickly.

"Yes, it's me. Don't shout," she told him. "I'm here. But I can't stay."

"Why?" he asked, sounding broken. "It's not fair."

"No," she agreed, tears filling her eyes. "It's not."

"So you're leaving, again?"

"Yes. Mother wouldn't let me stay, anyway. I did something bad, Sasuke. But it was necessary. Things would have been much worse if I had done nothing at all."

He rustled up, thin shirt looking far too large on him. Belatedly, she realized it was one of hers, and felt twice as shitty for having to do this.

"I don't get it. Why did you have to do it?"

"Life is sometimes like that, Sasuke. The world in which we live - it's far from perfect."

"It's not fair," he repeated. "Why do you have to go away? Where is Father?"

She flinched. Then she steeled herself, and sat on the bed next to him, cuddling him against her. She wasn't a particularly tactile person, but this was the second time in two days where she was participating in hugs.

She leaned forward, and kissed his hairline, and whispered, "I'm sorry to have to tell you this. But I won't lie, Sasuke. Father is dead."

"No!" he shouted, tears coming easily to his scrunched-up face.

"Quiet," she hissed. "Do not wake Mother."

He nodded, chastised.

"You are allowed to hate me for this," she prefaced.

"I'd never hate you," he vowed.

"Our family was plotting to overthrow the Hokage."

"What?" he asked, almost shouting again. This time she covered his mouth, so he couldn't interrupt.

"Yes. They were. Father was to be the new Hokage. But they weren't going to win - the village is too strong. So I told the Hokage, and he told me to do nothing. So I waited, and waited, and when they wouldn't give it up, I decided to stop it myself." She closed her eyes, holding tightly onto Sasuke, forcing herself to continue. "I did a bad thing. I killed everyone who wouldn't back down and accept that there should be no coup."

He jerked, violently, and she held on. "Listen, Sasuke. I didn't want to. But I had no other choice. Hate me if you like, but I saw no better option. Ask Shisui. Tell him what I told you, and he'll tell you. I was arrested, and they put in me jail, when one of the Hokage's advisors, Shimura Danzou, tried to steal my eyes, and the eyes of the dead Uchiha. So I killed all of them, too. I'm a wanted criminal, now. A missing-nin." She was crying, now. Completely. "I can't be here, but I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye."

She let him go, and he moved away from her. His face was ugly, blotchy with tears. "How could you?"

"I was protecting you," she said. "And the rest of our family, the ones that had no part in this. If I had done nothing, the order would have come from Shimura Danzou to kill all of the Uchiha, so that he alone could have the Sharingan."

"I hate you," he told her. "I hate you so much."

"I expected as much," she said, rising to her feet. "Shisui will want to know where I've gone. You can tell him that I'm with our masked friend, when he asks."

She went to leave, but Sasuke barreled into her. "Nee-san, don't go!"

"I thought you hated me," she said, smiling through tears.

"But I don't want you to leave," he returned. "I am mad at you, though. To make it up to me, you have to sleep in my bed tonight. Like we used to."

"Okay, hime."

"Hey!" He went red, furious. "Not nice!"

She unpacked some loose sleep shorts, and tucked them on under the yukata, before shrugging it off, and slipping on an old shirt. She carefully returned everything to her pouches, and lay down, next to the wall. Sasuke tucked himself into her arms, and huddled his face into her chest.

"Why did it have to be like this?" he asked.

"I don't know," she explained, gently, cording her hand through his hair. "The world's not fair. I don't think Father wanted the coup, but he went along with it because he thought it would be best for the clan. I didn't want to kill anyone, but I did because I thought it would be best for the clan. Our ideas were incompatible, and neither of us were willing to back down. So it came to a fight. That's sometimes the only way to solve things, in this imperfect world."

He was silent, just holding her tightly. "I don't want it to be like that."

"So change it. You are talented beyond measure, Uchiha Sasuke," she replied.

"I don't know how."

"Neither do I," she murmured. "I tried, by killing everyone who wanted to make the world worse. But all I did was hurt other people."

"I wish Father was alive."

"Me too," she said. "He loved me. I loved him. I wish there had been another way."

"Find one, then," he told her.

"I'll do my best," Itachi promised.

"I know you have to go," he said. "But don't go, not tonight, okay?"

"Okay, Sasuke."

Shisui had just stopped back home, and said goodbye to his ailing father when Sasuke almost barrelled him over.

"Hey!" he half-yelled. "You're back!"

"Hey, squirt," he said. "Where's your sister?"

Sasuke's face fell, and Shisui immediately feared the worst. "Danzou didn't get her, too, did he?"

"Danzou?" his face scrunched up. "No, she said she killed him."

"Let's not talk here," Shisui ordered, and grabbed Sasuke, and a shunshin later, they were in the clearing by the stream - his and Itachi's spot. "Okay," he said, scanning around. No one. Good. He sat down in the grass. "We can talk now."

Sasuke folded his arms. "Itachi's a missing-nin."

"What?"

"She killed - lots of Uchiha, Shimura Danzou, a bunch of his guys, and…" Sasuke trailed off, glancing away. "Father."

"Oh, no, Itachi," Shisui said. "I'm the older one, it should have been me."

"She said that they were going to try and overthrow the Hokage. Is that true?"

"Yes." Shisui didn't want to tell him, but he wasn't going to lie and contradict Itachi. "They were. Itachi and I were talking about how to stop them. If she went ahead and did all of it while I was out of the village, she was protecting me."

"She said that she was trying to protect me, too," Sasuke said, miserably. "Why did it have to be her?"

"Because she is a good person," Shisui told him. "A good shinobi. She would never have let me, or you do something distasteful that she did herself."

Sasuke pouted, at that. "But it's not fair to her! Someone else should have fixed it!"

"In a perfect world, yes."

"That's what she said - this world was imperfect, that it wasn't fair to anyone."

Shisui nodded. "I think that's right. So, tell me what's going on in the village. I want to know."

"Well, the district is really quiet - a lot of the Police Force are dead, so we've been having funerals. My father's was the biggest." He paused, eyes teary. "And my mother and Uchiha Osamu, the old guy who looks like a turtle, have been running things. I guess I'm next in line for Clan Head," he muttered, staring at his knees. "It's all so different. No one knows what to do."

"Hey," he said, reaching out, and grasping Sasuke's shoulder. "We'll figure it out, okay? I'm not going anywhere. If you do have to be Clan Head, I'll be there with you, every step of the way."

Sasuke nodded, solemn. "I just don't know what to do. Mom's too busy, Dad's gone, and Itachi's no longer in the village. I skipped the Academy yesterday, and no one even said a word."

"Like I said," Shisui repeated. "I'm here. Itachi and I were like brother and sister, and that means that you're my little brother, okay? So I'll help. And I'll be upset if you don't go to the Academy. It's important, okay?"

"Okay," Sasuke said. He looked a little happier. Not quite his usual bubbly self, but… maybe, he would be, in time. "Itachi said to tell you that she's with - your masked friend?"

"I know who that is," he agreed. Obito - the strange, odd man that Kotoamatsukami had affected so strongly. He'd saved Itachi's life, and Shisui was grateful to him for that. He wasn't sure if he was entirely trustworthy, but he was a strong ally if Itachi was no longer affiliated with Konoha. He also had a seal - a strange one, that he could use to contact Obito. Smart, of Itachi. "Maybe we can find her together, one day."

"Okay," Sasuke chirped. "I've got to be strong, then, right?"

"Yes," Shisui agreed, warily.

"Then you have to teach me your shunshin!"

Shisui laughed. "Well, maybe if you show me you can attend the Academy, I could think about it."

"Fine," Sasuke said, looking fierce.

"Good," Shisui said. "I have to go report in a while, but let's train a little, ne?"

"Okay," Sasuke agreed.

"Now, show me what you've got."

Sachiko sighed, and unlocked the back door of the tea shop. It had been a long day of team training with a new ANBU captain, who was Mole, unsurprisingly. Mole was a loser. Bear agreed, even if he'd never say anything like that, and Hedgehog, the new guy, was even greener than Sachiko.

"I'm home!" she called.

"Welcome!" Yumi's voice echoed back.

She took off her shoes, and padded up the stairs to their small apartment, above the shop. Yumi met her, long teal hair loose and shining, her thin face as beautiful as ever.

Sachiko dropped a quick kiss on her brow, and went to go change. The meeting would be soon, and she wanted to be ready.

"Hey, do you have the sake?" Sachiko asked.

"Of course! I set aside some from the special order. A year old, three bottles, specially for tonight. I even had Akira make up a few daifuku, the kind you like. What kind of meeting was it, again?"

Sachiko stepped out into the small living room. A low kotatsu sat, and Yumi was huddled under it, leaning into the floor couch. Sachiko smiled.

"Oh, just a few shinobi. People that knew my old ANBU captain well. I'm not supposed to tell you, but she killed a whole lot of her family, and one of the village elders, advisor to the Hokage," Sachiko explained.

Yumi's eyes were round and wide. "Oh wow! I heard about him. Shimura Danzou, right? It's like a novel! The villainous traitor, huh? What was she like?"

Sachiko couldn't resist playing it up. "Well, that's the thing - Captain Weasel was a good shinobi. Careful, by the book. A bit of a hardass, but she couldn't afford not to be, given that she was thirteen."

"Thirteen! Wow!"

"A real prodigy, I heard. But that's not what the meeting's about. Some people have been asking around - discreetly, I might add, about how criminal it really was. The Hokage made a judgement, and no one can account for how she disappeared."

She grinned, leaning forward, and settling next to Yumi. "And, here's the real kicker. I was part of the team that investigated Danzou's death. We found him in a massive, secret underground complex, surrounded by unregistered ANBU agents. The office has been a complete clusterfuck, lately. Apparently the guy was running a secret organization, under the Hokage's nose. So certain people in ANBU have been making noise about how the Uchiha killings were maybe more justified than they first appeared."

"Oh, wow. So that's what the meeting's about? This is super exciting, you know! This is what I signed up for when asked out a ninja, you know. How come your life's not this interesting?" she teased, winking one clear blue, pupil-less eye.

"Hey, I'm not sure you want to date a missing-nin," Sachiko warned. "If I ran away from the village as a tragic hero, I wouldn't be able to live in your shop."

"Well, maybe that's not what I want. Maybe I want danger! Excitement! I should see if this Captain Weasel's single."

"Captain Weasel is thirteen, Yumi."

Yumi laughed - a lovely noise. "Oh, right. Shoot. Guess I'll have to stick with my Sachiko."

"Hey, don't tease!"

"You know I love ya," she grinned. "So who's coming to this meeting?"

"Some people - I know the Copy-nin. He's the one who invited me. And Shunshin no Shisui, I think."

"Ooooh! So you're rubbing elbows with the elite?"

"Well, Captain Weasel was an ANBU captain at thirteen, so of course her friends are gonna be good," Sachiko said. "I can't say I knew her well enough to know whether she snapped and killed everyone or not, but I'm willing to hear them out. Connections are everything, here. If I can make friends with Hatake Kakashi or Uchiha Shisui, that's a big deal."

"Smart," Yumi agreed. "My father always said that connections are a big deal. Oh! Did you know that my third cousin turned up? Apparently he was part of a weird cult, or something. His name's Fuu, I'm not sure I mentioned him to you."

"That's interesting," Sachiko agreed. "Yamanaka Fuu?"

"Yeah! Was real weird. The family's all about it. Could that have something to do with your weird secret black ops?"

"I think so," Sachiko agreed.

Just then, a knock came, at the door to the cafe. They were in the room above it, so it was very audible.

"I'll go," Sachiko said. "Have fun reading!"

"You got it. Sake's on the table, and the choko cups are downstairs."

"Love you!"

"Love you too!"

Sachiko grabbed the sake, and padded downstairs into the cafe proper. It was a small thing, homey and traditional. Yumi owned it, and served everything. A cook - Akira - came, in the mornings, and made some of the desserts they served, but that was it.

She set the sake on one of the larger tables, and went and opened the door.

Two teenagers stumbled in, long and lanky - a brown-haired boy, almost a man, and a purple-haired girl.

"Hello!" Sachiko greeted. "Welcome."

The girl hit the boy, on the arm, and he bowed. "Hello! I'm Kasshoku Kane, and this is Uzuki Yuugao. We're here for a meeting?"

"Yes, I believe so. I'm Sachiko. Come, have a seat."

They shrugged off their cloaks and their shoes, and settled down on the floor, at the table. Sachiko went and grabbed choko cups for the three of them, and then a few more for good measure.

She sat down across from them, at the table. "So, how do you know Itachi?" the girl, Yuugao asked.

"Uh, she was my team captain, actually," Sachiko told her. "I only met her six months ago."

"She was our genin teammate," Kane, the boy, said, sitting primly.

"How was that?" Sachiko asked, curious.

"Awful," Yuugao snapped, surprising Sachiko. "How do you think it feels to be effortlessly outperformed by a midget three years younger than you? Itachi was better at everything, without even trying." There was a lot of poorly-hidden resentment, there.

Kane sighed, next to her, and she sensed that this was an old argument.

"So why are you here?"

"Isn't it obvious? Should be, if you were part of her team. Itachi was a lot of things, and annoying as fuck as a kid, but she wasn't a traitor. She wouldn't kill a whole bunch of people without a good reason. So we're here to find out why."

Sachiko nodded, numbly, and distributed the choko cups, pouring them all a drink. She got the real sense that Kane was half-along for the ride, and Yuugao was the driving force, here. She did not, of course, voice the fact that she didn't really believe much either way, and had simply jumped at the chance to associate with important shinobi.

"She was a good leader," she said. "I was impressed that she managed to get us all listening, even at thirteen."

Kane nodded, and Yuugao rolled her eyes. "Suck-up," she accused.

"Hey!" Sachiko protested, feeling her face heat up.

"Be nice, Yuugao," Kane chided.

Yuugao made a noise with her mouth, and took a big drink.

Another knock sounded, and Sachiko got up to answer it. It was a plain-looking man, with brown hair and a full-face forehead protector. Sachiko didn't even know that they still made those anymore.

"Welcome," she said. "You here for the meeting?"

"Yes," he greeted, smiling uncomfortably. "I'm Tenzo."

"I'm Sachiko. Please come in."

He did, stiff and awkward, sitting down next to her instead of near Kane or Yuugao. "Sempai will be late."

"Oh?" Sachiko asked. "I don't know who that is."

"Ah, Hound," he said. "Sorry, Hatake Kakashi." He ducked his head in embarrassment. "I'm not supposed to talk about ANBU. I'm pretty awful at remembering, though."

"Oh, you too?" Yuugao asked.

"Wait, you're both in ANBU?" Sachiko blurted, handing another choko cup to Tenzo. "Oh, that's a relief. I'm Salamander."

"Cat," Tenzo said.

"And I'm Manta Ray," Yuugao said. Sachiko chuckled, and Tenzo smiled. "Don't laugh, it's badass. Don't talk shit. Cats are lame. Salamander's cool too."

"Wait, you're Manta Ray?" Tenzo asked.

"Duh."

"Oh, well, nice to see you, then."

"Same to you," Yuugao returned.

"Alright," Sachiko said, chastised. "Thanks."

Another knock came, and Sachiko got up, and answered. This time, it was a tall, young man, escorting a hunched figure, old and stooped. The man had dark, curly hair, and an easy grin. He pulled the cloak off the old person, revealing that he was a man, almost bald, and hunched like a turtle, almost toothless.

Sachiko guided them to seats at the end of the table, and brought a cushion for the old man. She recognized the young one - Shunshin no Shisui, and as the rest of the table introduced themselves, the old man said he was Uchiha Osamu.

She had only settled them when another knock came, and Sachiko opened it to a huge man, in a long black cloak and a heavily scarred face.

"Hi," she squeaked.

"Hello," he said, calmly. "I am Morino Ibiki. May I come in?"

"I'm, uh, Sachiko."

"It's very nice to meet you, Sachiko-san."

"And you, Morino-san," she replied. She was wondering why he wasn't moving, before she realized that she was standing in the way. "Please, come in."

He did so. "Thank you." And he paced off to sit at the table.

Then, they were only waiting for Hatake Kakashi. It was a tense silence, as Sachiko busied herself serving the newcomers with cups.

Eventually, Kane and Yuugao devolved into a half-shoving, half-bickering fight, Tenzo was sitting awkwardly, drinking his sake, and the two Uchiha were sitting, conversing in low tones. Morino Ibiki was there, calm and intimidating with his huge stature and facial scars.

Sachiko got up and served the daifuku, on a tray. It was in the refrigerator, so she took the tray out and laid it on the table. Everyone took one, and she promised to relay the compliments to Akira.

The old man, in particular, seemed delighted by it. "Thank you, young lady," he said.

The knock on the door came, and Sachiko came and got the door. Hatake Kakashi stood there, hand in his pocket, other hand perusing a worn book.

"Please, come in," she said.

He stood there, staring at the book and ignoring her, for a long moment, until Tenzo hissed from behind her. "Sempai! Get in here!"

"Oh," he said, mildly. "Were you talking to me?"

"Yes," Tenzo hissed. "You're so embarrassing."

"Now, now, that's not a very nice thing to say."

"Get in!"

He ambled through the doorway, looking almost absent-minded. He also didn't remove his shoes, and plopped right next to Tenzo's spot, looking longingly at the empty tray of daifuku.

"Oh, is there food?" he asked, faux-innocent.

Then he scooped one off of Tenzo's plate, and Tenzo hissed, "Oh no you don't! Food is for people who show up on time!"

Sachiko laughed, and sat down in her spot.

"Right, right," Hatake said, almost absentmindedly. "Why are we here again?"

"You called this meeting!" Tenzo hissed.

"Oh, rookie, didn't see you there," Hatake said, instead.

"Captain," Yuugao replied, lips quirking. "We're here because you wanted to talk about Itachi."

"Right, right," he repeated. "See? The rookie was helpful. Why can't you be more like her, Tenzo?"

Tenzo made an inarticulate noise of fury, and Sachiko didn't want to say anything, to provoke him. She was reminded, a little, of Itachi, who would harass her favorites the same way.

"Okay," Hatake finally said. Uchiha Shisui had a nonplussed look on his face, and Kane was oddly bug-eyed, but Osamu was as unbothered as anything, quietly working his way through his own daifuku.

"Time to get down to business. This whole Uchiha Itachi thing, I don't like how it went down. So, it might be best to start with what we know," he said, suddenly all serious.

Sachiko handed him a choko, full of sake, and he fingered it, staring down into the liquid. "My team was first on the scene, so some of you will know this already - we found the Uchiha district on fire, a number of corpses, and a few survivors, along with Uchiha Itachi-san. She surrendered immediately, and was taken to T&I for questioning."

He let that hang in the air for a moment, and barrelled on, lacing his fingers together. "I was present for what passed for an interrogation, with Morino Ibiki, Yamanaka Inoichi, Shimura Danzou, and the Hokage. Itachi-san claimed that the kills were in defense of the Hokage, as the Uchiha were planning a coup. Yamanaka-san mind-walked with her, and Shimura Danzou convinced him that Itachi-san was mentally unstable, due to a clone technique she used." He placed his hands in his lap, and glanced around, his single eye no longer sleepy, and his tone aggressive. "Apparently, her memories were distorted, when they were from the clones, and no one came forward to collaborate the coup, so the Hokage had her confined to a hospital."

"I do not know why no one took my testimony," Uchiha Osamu said, slowly. "I would have told them that the coup was very, very real."

"Me, too. But this all happened when I was outside the village," Shisui agreed. "Someone even took steps to ensure I would not return."

"I had wondered," rumbled the big man, Morino Ibiki. "Itachi-san said, during her testimony that Shimura Danzo-sama attempted to steal her cousin Shisui's eyes, and therefore, she did not trust him. Can you confirm this?"

"He did," Shisui said, nodding, folding his hands behind his hair, and leaning back. "Itachi saved me. Or, her clone did. But it's more accurate to say that she distrusted him long before that. So when…" he glanced away. "When I discovered how to activate the next level of my Sharingan, she kept an eye on me. She had long suspected that Shimura Danzou had it out for the Uchiha, ever since the Kyuubi attack."

That far back? That was a real conspiracy. Sachiko wasn't sure what to think.

"Actually," Kane, from the end of the table, said, eyebrows scrunched up. "She said that a while ago, that the Uchiha were slowly being curtailed. Like, six or so years ago, during one of our genin missions."

"Yup," Shisui said, smiling. "It's been happening for a while. That's a big reason why the clan started talking about a coup in the first place."

"She never mentioned it to me, during our lessons, but a child cannot often hide things from an old man," Osamu murmured.

"That makes sense with what we know - Itachi-san being one of the people most concerned with the welfare of the Uchiha, Danzou-san's grudge against them, but I want to return to something Shisui said." Kakashi spoke calmly, effortlessly commanding the attention of the room again. "You said that you were ambushed, while out on a mission. Please, elaborate."

"I was out with my ANBU team," Shisui explained. "A regular patrol mission. I think it was just luck, that it happened then. Itachi made her move when I wasn't there, but she would have waited no matter what. She didn't want me to have to participate, probably because she knew I'd take her side." He huffed, hugging himself. "But that was just Itachi. Anyway, it was weird, because my normal captain was recalled, along with one team member, but me and Beaver were told to join with another team, Stork and Tortoise.

"That almost never happens, so I knew it was suspicious. I'm Stag, in case you were wondering. But Stork and Tortoise ambushed Beaver and killed him, and tried to do the same to me. I'm almost certain the hit was meant for me. I won, of course." The brag was effortless enough that Sachiko didn't realize it was one.

Morino Ibiki glanced at the Copy-nin, meaningfully.

Hatake cleared his throat, and said, "That fits with my theory. The number of people that would have the administrative power to order a hit like that, and the motivation to silence Shisui-san are very small. But, to the last part of the tale. Itachi was not heard from until much later, when the jonin guarding her was killed, and she disappeared from her cell."

Shisui cleared his throat. "How was he killed?"

"A blade to the throat. It was long, used for slashing," Hatake replied. "Now, Salamander can tell us what's next."

"Oh! Me," she laughed, awkwardly. "I, uh, yeah! So I think I know what you mean. My team got called into a village disturbance, because an entire section of the ground collapsed. We found an extensive tunnel complex that was unmapped by the village, with eighteen corpses, inside. There was also a morgue, with most of the corpses of the dead Uchiha. It was only later we noticed that buried in the rubble was the corpse of Shimura Danzou."

"You believe that Shimura Danzou kidnapped her," Morino Ibiki said, hands steeped in front of him. Sachiko could not tell who he was addressing. "That he attempted to steal her eyes, and stealing the Uchiha dojutsu, and she killed him, and his underground organization for it. She then realized that killing a village elder would mean that she was very unlikely to be able to stay an active shinobi, and fled."

"Yes," Kakashi said, lounging gracefully. "I doubted that she would have killed him without a good reason."

"That makes sense," Shisui added, smiling widely. "She visited her brother, Sasuke, two days ago. She left a message that she is currently with one of our mutual friends, a man who goes by the name Tobi."

Nobody else seemed to have any idea who that was, so Sachiko didn't worry.

"Well, that's good, right?" Kane asked. "Now you can go to the Hokage, and tell him that Itachi had a good reason."

Most of the older half of the table were not quite so enthusiastic. "I do not think the Hokage will act," Osamu said, in his deep, rumbling voice. "He has a long history of not acting, when it comes to the Uchiha, and he has quite publicly condemned her."

"Rough," Yuugao said.

"That was what I expected," Hatake explained, finally. "But I've been wanting to nail Danzou for a long time. He's been doing a tremendous amount of damage behind the Hokage's back, for years. He even recruited Tenzo and I, at one point."

"It's far more important to undo the damage he has done," Osamu said. "Sanctions, against the Uchiha. Opening up the Police Force to non-Uchiha, for instance."

"Shisui," Hatake said. "I'd like to ask you about the Sharingan, when you have time."

"Okay," he agreed.

"Is that it?" Yuugao asked. "I didn't even get to drop a bombshell. How disappointing."

"Too bad, rookie," Hatake Kakashi flippantly replied. "But the meeting's over, yeah. I just wanted to make sure everyone had the story straight, confirm that Danzou got what he deserved, and make sure Itachi's not dead in a ditch somewhere."

He stood, and slouched off, letting himself out. He still hadn't taken off his shoes.

"I think, if anyone were to take it to the Hokage, it should be Hatake-san and I," Morino Ibiki said, in that slow, deliberate way of his. "With Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Osamu as witnesses, likely. I will call on both of you gentlemen in time." He turned to Sachiko, and bowed, gently. "Thank you very much for hosting us, Sachiko-san. The food was wonderful, and the sake too. I enjoyed them both immensely."

And then he left, too.

Tenzo, too, stood and mumbled his apologies, as he stepped out the door.

Kane and Yuugao stood, and Kane jabbed Yuugao, hard, in the ribs. "Say thank you. I said hello."

"Thank you, Sachiko-san." She looked constipated at the thought of it.

"Good," Kane pronounced. "Now, give back the sake."

"What sake?"

"I saw you take it, Yuugao. I will lock you out of the house, so help me."

"If I had stolen the sake," Yuugao defended, primly. "I'd crawl through the window, anyway. Itachi did it."

"I don't care! Give the nice lady back her sake, or she'll pound you!"

"It's okay!" Sachiko yelled, over them both. "If you happen to have stolen any sake, you may keep it, Yuugao-san."

"See? Even Sachiko-san says I didn't steal it."

"Fine, I give up," he said, rubbing his face. "Thank you, Sachiko-san."

"It's my pleasure," she said.

Next, she turned to Uchiha Shisui and Osamu. "Thank you, young lady," Osamu said. "It was a lovely evening."

"Thanks," Shisui added, sheepishly. "You're Salamander, right? I'll see you around."

"Sure," Sachiko said. And then she was alone. With all the mud that Hatake had tracked in. Damn that man. He was infuriating. She wanted very dearly to march upstairs and tuck herself into the bed, but she went and got the mop.

It was going to be a long night.