[A/N: So, I just watched episode 19 of Young Justice, 'Misplaced,' and was inspired to write about the same type of scenario occurring in Narutoverse. I fudged a couple of the ages so I could use the characters I wanted, but not by a whole lot. The fic is planned out in 10 or so short sections.]

I.

Itachi sighed as he leaned back against the wall of his bedroom. He had hardly slept at all the night before, and now the sun was beginning to glow through the paper wall panels. Soon, his father would rise to tend to his police work, and his mother would get up and send Sasuke off to the Ninja Academy.

And a painfully short time after that, Sasuke and Itachi would be the only ones left alive.

After a little while, birds began to sing outside, but there was still no sound from the master bedroom. That was rather odd, but perhaps they had decided to sleep in.

Trying to keep his mind off what he was going to do, Itachi began to clean his room; a completely pointless action, both because the room was already pristine and because he would no longer need it after today. Still, the familiar routine did help a little.

He was sorting his books again—by topic this week, he decided—when he heard small footsteps pattering down the hallway and all through the house.

Sasuke almost never got up on his own, Itachi thought with a frown, and there was still no sign of their parents being up and about. Perhaps his little brother had had a nightmare, but then wouldn't he have come to Itachi's room straightaway?

Now very curious as to what was going on, Itachi was about to open his bedroom door and go find Sasuke when the door was shoved open and Sasuke burst in, running straight into Itachi.

"You shouldn't run in the house, Otouto…" Itachi began, then paused, quickly kneeling next to Sasuke as he saw the tears in the child's wide dark eyes. "Sasuke-chan, what's wrong?"

Sasuke sniffled, putting his arms around Itachi's neck and burying his face in his brother's shirt. "I felt something funny and I woke up and then I went to see Mama…"

The words were a little indistinct, and Itachi gently loosened Sasuke's grip on him so that he wasn't mumbling into the fabric of his shirt. "What happened, Sasuke-chan?" he asked, now genuinely concerned.

"Mama wasn't there!" Sasuke burst out, starting to cry in earnest. "And neither was Papa and I went to look for them and I still couldn't find them and I thought you would be gone too and—"

Itachi hugged his brother tightly, gently stroking his soft, fluffy hair. "It'll be okay," he whispered as Sasuke continued to sob. "It'll be okay. We'll find them."

Sasuke stopped crying long enough to look up into his brother's eyes. "Promise?" he asked thickly, with a choked little hiccup.

"Promise."

Itachi was, without question, the worst person in the world, he decided as he looked down at Sasuke's trusting face.

…

Itachi's promise to find their parents (for however brief a time) proved more difficult to keep than he had expected. He headed for the master bedroom first, Sasuke clinging tightly to one hand with both of his—his little brother clearly did not want to be separated from his currently and soon permanently only remaining family member.

Standing in the doorway of their parent's room, Itachi surveyed the interior before entering. There were no traces of any strange chakra signatures, nor was there any evidence of a struggle. "Was it like this when you went in the first time?" he asked Sasuke, who was now half-hiding behind him.

Sasuke nodded nervously, hanging back a bit as Itachi entered the room.

Not only were there no signs of a fight, Itachi realized, there was no sign that his parents had even risen. The bedcoverings were slightly rumpled but not tossed aside; rather bunched up as if there were still bodies under them. Kneeling by the futon, Itachi flipped the covers back. There was nothing underneath, but that hadn't been what he was looking for. He placed one hand on the futon—it was cold. Whatever had happened, it must have been an hour ago or more.

"Do you know where they are, Nii-san?" Sasuke asked hopefully as Itachi stood up.

Itachi wasn't sure how to reply. "I'm sure they must be around somewhere," he said finally. After all, their parents couldn't just have vanished into thin air, could they? "Let's go outside and look."

Sasuke was still clinging to Itachi as they went outside. It had been Itachi's intention to speak to the watchman at the compound gate, but it was clear at a glance that the man wasn't there. Itachi made a mental note to speak to the Hokage about that; the watchman should be busted down to genin for being so stupidly careless.

However, the watchman wasn't the only person gone. "Itachi-nii-san, where is everybody?" Sasuke whispered, looking fearfully up and down the silent street. Somewhere in the distance, an infant began to wail, and Itachi knew that something was desperately wrong.

…

Just in order to make sure, Itachi searched some of the houses before drawing his conclusion: every single adult in the Uchiha compound was gone.

"Nii-san, where are Mama and Papa?" Sasuke asked again. The child had quickly gotten tired of walking so Itachi was now carrying him.

Itachi wasn't sure how to reply. As he had gone through the compound he had acquired quite a group of followers, and saying that all of their parents were gone might start a panic.

There were some children around older than him, but only a few; due to the war, there had been a drop in births for several years preceding Itachi's arrival. Even those older than Itachi were deferring to him at the moment, both because he was the son of the clan head and because he seemed to know what he was doing.

"I'm not sure yet, Otouto," Itachi whispered in Sasuke's ear before turning to the gathered children. They stared back expectantly and he sighed. "Everyone, please listen to me," he began. "I promise I will find out what is going on, but first we need to make sure everyone is safe. How many of you left siblings at home?"

About a third of the children raised their hands. Another third seemed to be gathered in sibling groups, and the rest were probably only children.

"Go home and get them," Itachi ordered. "Get bottles and diaper bags for the babies if you can find them, then bring them to the main training hall. Who here has already made genin?"

There were only six or seven hands this time.

"You come with me to find any children who are still inside. Everyone else, head straight to the training hall."

Gently setting Sasuke on the ground, Itachi gave him a little nudge in the direction of the training hall after the other children, but Sasuke didn't move. "I won't go!" he said firmly.

"But Sasuke-chan, I have things I need to do…" Itachi explained.

"Then I'll come too!" Sasuke said, grabbing onto the hem of Itachi's shirt and refusing to let go. "Please don't leave me, Nii-san…"

Itachi moved to pry the little fingers loose, then stopped as Sasuke's lower lip began to tremble. He had never had much defense against his brother's tears. "All right," he sighed, "but you have to promise to do exactly what I tell you."

…

It took almost two hours before Itachi was satisfied that they had searched every inch of the Uchiha compound where a child might possibly be found. There were fifty-three children in all, counting himself and Sasuke. The training hall just barely had room for everyone.

There was still no respite to be had, since after all the children had been gathered they of course wanted to be fed. Itachi sent the little group of genin out to scrounge for whatever cereal, canned goods, and baby food they could find, with orders to distribute everything as evenly as possible. Thankfully, the training hall had a tap outside, otherwise it would have been a nightmare trying to get water to everyone.

Leading Sasuke over to a spot that hadn't been claimed by anyone yet, Itachi quietly sat down next to his brother. "Look, I know you want to stay with me," he began, "but I really need you to stay here with the others."

"But—" Sasuke started, and Itachi cut him off before he could turn on the waterworks again.

"It's a very important ninja mission," Itachi said firmly. "I need you to stay here and make sure everything goes okay while I go into town and find out what's going on. Can you do that?"

Sasuke still looked unhappy, but he nodded and did not cling to Itachi this time. Itachi patted his little brother's head affectionately. "Don't worry," he said. "I'll be back in no time."

Leaving the noisy training hall for the silence of the deserted compound, Itachi headed for the gate.

It was time to demand some answers from the Hokage.