Craters were torn out of the ground, vast swaths of trees thrown in all directions at the obvious explosions. There was too much carnage, and even from their position just before the back gates Itachi could see how the wall had been breached, how clay had fallen away to reveal the metal supports underneath which sagged over their destroyed forest. Like Konoha was weeping.
It was absolutely sickening.
"Are you sure this is the best move?"
Jiraiya growled, his fists shaking. "I'm not expected back for a few months at least. You three are. They won't be as suspicious and we need information more than we need a fight. I'll be out here, you three go to the gate like you'd just accomplished a mission and want to know what's going on."
It was a sound plan, because despite the carnage there were Hyuuga guards posted at the rear gates to Konoha, guards that seemed way too relaxed considering they'd obviously just been under attack. There was more going on here, and it would be better to play ignorant and see what they could learn.
But despite all the logic Itachi clenched his teeth, wrestling with his control. This was his home, but more than that Sasuke was in there. If his assumptions were correct this attack had been around the village perimeter, which was where the Uchiha were, where Sasuke was. He didn't know what happened, but the idea of sitting around hunting for clues in people's reactions was making his limbs shake. Sasuke could be hurt. Sasuke could be-
"This was why we were always against it," Shisui muttered, sharing Itachi's horror. He turned to Kakashi. "You really still wonder why we weren't on their side?"
Kakashi pursed his lips underneath his mask, turning to inspect their village.
He said nothing.
***
As they'd planned Jiraiya stayed behind, gathering all the intelligence he could while staying out of sight. Team Ro approached the back gates cautiously, revealing themselves as soon as they could to the Hyuuga guards so they'd know they're not a threat, feigning complete ignorance to what might have happened.
"What happened here?" Kakashi immediately barked, had been the lead on their mission out and was most natural to demand answers. "Was Konoha attacked?"
The two Hyuuga shared a grin before addressing them, blowing right past Kakashi to the two Uchiha behind his back.
"Are one of you Uchiha Sasuke's brother?" they asked excitedly, actually seemed to have stars in their eyes. "Uh, I think the name is Itachi?"
Itachi's brain stuttered. Sasuke's brother?
Shisui laughed uncomfortably. "You know Sasuke?"
"Of course," the Hyuuga snorted, relishing in knowing something they didn't. "Everyone knows Sasuke. Kazue made sure of it."
Itachi didn't know who that was.
There was a fluttering in his stomach. A nervousness that grew painful the longer these Hyuuga teased him. He didn't know what was going on, but they'd dropped his brother's name like he was someone famous, someone important.
"Alright alright, stop teasing," the other Hyuuga scolded, playfully hitting the back of his partner's head.
He turned to Itachi and Shisui with pursed lips, then shook his head ruefully.
"Your brother is a hero," he commended sincerely. "He played an essential role in the Uchiha coup. Your father is now hokage. Sorry that you missed all the fun."
The Hyuuga are traitors.
The revelation hit him at the same time it hit his team, and while the Hyuuga seemed only amused at his and Shisui's reactions they noticeably tensed at Kakashi's, reaching for their weapons.
"You two can go in," the one on the left told them, but jerked his head at Kakashi, "but we can't let him in without being vetted."
"Right," Shisui said, struggling to process. Itachi wondered why these Hyuuga would say such a thing when they were outnumbered, and then realized they didn't think they were. He and Shisui were allies, were going to be allowed in.
The Uchiha won?
With the Hyuuga.
Itachi took a robotic step forward, only to stop.
"We can vet him," he said, and jerked a thumb back at Kakashi. "He'll trust us, and he's not had the easiest time with Konoha either. We'll vouch."
The Hyuuga's posture immediately relaxed, and they gave him a grin of acknowledgment. Too trusting.
Because I'm Sasuke's brother.
They retreated away from the Hyuuga to 'vet' Kakashi, except when they were finally out of earshot it was all Itachi could do not to hyperventilate.
"Are we really meant to believe the coup was successful?" Kakashi asked, his arms crossed as he thought.
"More like: are we really meant to believe the Hyuuga would ally with the Uchiha?" Shisui argued, but Itachi couldn't trace the subsequent brainstorming that his two friends were devolving into, trying to understand what was going on.
"Are one of you Uchiha Sasuke's brother?" "Everyone knows Sasuke" "Your brother is a hero." "He played an essential role-"
Itachi gasped, almost doubling over as he struggled to breathe. They'd used Sasuke. The Uchiha had used Sasuke. They'd taken a seven-year-old and made him a pawn in their ploy for power without ever telling Itachi. His baby brother. His brother who was supposed to be just going to the academy and playing with his friend and dreaming of the day far, far in the future when he'd finally be a ninja-
And the Uchiha had made him a tool. His baby brother.
His fucking brother.
"I can't-" Itachi gasped, interrupting his two friend's discussion. "I need to get Sasuke out of there."
It wasn't strategic. They needed to play along, to debrief with the hokage which was apparently now his father, but he knew he physically couldn't. This wasn't his Konoha anymore, but an extension of the corrupt clan that had killed his village. And they'd used his brother to do it.
"Itachi…" Shisui sighed, completely sympathetic. "It's-"
"We don't know what they did to him," Itachi immediately argued, vicious. "Sasuke wouldn't just step into the role of 'hero' on his own. He's only seven years old. Do you remember how they looked at him? When the Nara came to the compound?" He shook his head furiously. "Sasuke can be self-righteous, but he wouldn't be apart of something like this without manipulation, without coercion, and we don't-" Itachi choked- "we don't know what they made him do, but ninja rarely get called 'heroes' without violence."
It was a screech in his skull, his ears ringing as he considered what was unavoidable. His innocent little brother had been corrupted without Itachi even knowing, had been brandished as a weapon against their village. They'd hurt him. Sasuke. Sasuke.
"I'm sorry," he hushed, and bowed to his two friends. "I won't be any help in this mission. Sasuke is my priority."
Shisui put a hand on his shoulder and Itachi looked up. Though he'd expected the compassion from his best friend he was floored at the complete, unselfish understanding from Kakashi.
"We'll split up," Kakashi declared, seamlessly accounting for Itachi's need to save Sasuke. "You'll go get your annoying kid brother while me and Shisui debrief with the hokage. Take Sasuke to Jiraiya when you retrieve him, and we'll bring information when we get the chance."
Itachi exhaled, then forced his nerves under his iron will. He wouldn't think about what had been done to Sasuke, only of how he would get to him. This was an extraction, a mission, and Itachi let his psyche slip into the clarity of simplicity, of single-mindedness.
Shisui led back to the main gate with a jovial grin, meeting the Hyuuga guard with familiarity they didn't have.
"He's skeptical, but willing to listen," he laughed, jerking his head at Kakashi. "We'll debrief with the new hokage. He's at the tower?"
They didn't break their pace as they neared the gates, but the guards didn't care, let them pass.
"Yup," they affirmed. "He's incredibly busy, but I'm sure he'll make time for you."
"And where's Sasuke?" Shisui asked casually, as if in afterthought.
"Oh, he's at the Hyuuga compound."
"Thanks!"
Shisui matched their attitude, charming the Hyuuga guards, but before long they were inside their much-transformed village.
Only to immediately run into trouble, a whole Uchiha squad pale and drawn as they neared the gates only to freeze when they saw team Ro.
"What are you doing?!" they screamed at the Hyuuga guards. "These fuckers are traitors! They-"
But Itachi had heard enough, and was inwardly relieved he wouldn't have to play ally. He struck, quick and brutal even if it wasn't enough to kill, and blew past the Uchiha squad heading right to the Hyuuga compound, no more consideration to the rest of the world. He got halfway there before he realized he had back-up, and looked over his shoulder in confusion at his two friends.
"It's not like they're going to debrief traitors," Shisui huffed wryly, only a bit annoyed at how quickly their plans had been undermined. He motioned for Itachi to look forward. "Get your brother, Itachi. We've got your back."
Despite all the turmoil Itachi warmed. They wouldn't be able to find out any more information for Jiraiya, but his team didn't care, had decided to risk their lives just for someone Itachi loved.
It wasn't a quiet trip to the Hyuuga estate, more like every single goddamn shinobi that got a look at team Ro decided to pursue, and by the time they actually made it to the stone walls that made up Hyuuga land a small army was at their backs. Team after team, on-duty of off, it didn't seem to matter. Everyone pursued them. Team Ro was anbu-level and younger than most, out-pacing most of their pursuers but not all. There were guards all around the estate, guards that took one look at them and attacked without a second to consider, cementing the idea that they really were considered enemies on a wide scale, probably recent information considering the guards posted at the gate hadn't known.
They leapt over the fence and engaged. These guards seemed like upper-level chunin, which meant it took an extra second to subdue them, an extra second they didn't have considering the army at their backs.
"Go, Itachi!" Shisui snarled, his fist coming down on the back of a Hyuuga's skull. "We'll hold them off!"
Itachi hesitated.
"We won't die here," Shisui growled, then rolled his eyes. "We'll give you two extra minutes then bail. Get Sasuke in that time and we'll meet up with the old man."
Itachi didn't hesitate any longer, gratefully nodding before shooting off, way too fast for normal ninja. If Sasuke was in the Hyuuga compound he was probably in a public area, as Neji was in the custody of his uncle and would probably not want to bring an Uchiha into the Hyuuga clan head's home. His sharingan made scanning the streets easy, and it wasn't too long before he heard the particular din that was a crowd of children and followed that. There was a training ground within the limits of the Hyuuga estate, a training ground currently full of dozens of children both Uchiha and Hyuuga, separated into groups by age and seemed to be going through academy-level drills. There were a few guards around, guards that hadn't noticed him until a vicious snarl echoed throughout the training ground, coming from the nin behind him who'd managed to slip Shisui and Kakashi's guard.
"Stop him!" a Hyuuga screamed, quickly closing the distance between them as he neared Itachi, but addressed the guards around the children. "He's going after Sasuke!"
Itachi snarled as well, started running faster to put more distance between them, before almost tripping as he finally laid eyes on his brother.
What the-
Sasuke was in his own little group with his two friends, was standing up and demonstrating a technique while Neji and Naruto observed, but it wasn't just them who were observing. His two friends, two tiny children, were sat down and leaning back against the blood-orange fur of a beast, reclining against his belly between his front and hind legs. Itachi's sharingan was activated, could make-out the shape of the beast's face, the red of his eyes, the multiple tails, yet he couldn't understand. A rumble came from the monster, making Naruto laugh, but Itachi could only process how that voice and those features and that frame was triggering his panic even more, was forcing his limbs faster, his breath quicker, he-
Sasuke caught sight of him, and his eyes widened before he grinned bright. It seemed Sasuke didn't remember their fight, his ire forgotten in his happiness at seeing his brother after such a separation. Itachi's heart ached as Sasuke raised his hand to wave, as his warm eyes met Itachi's with the same love he'd seen Sasuke's entire life-
A foot touched the side of his face, and suddenly Itachi was sailing through the air.
He crashed into the field, narrowly missing a few children in his fall.
"Nii-san!"
Itachi spat out grass but quickly readjusted, flying away from the stomp aimed at his back. He didn't recognize the Hyuuga woman who'd landed a hit on him, but he did recognize the look in her eyes. Her lip was curled, jaw clenched and angry, her shivering limbs barely restraining her fury. She hated him, and she was going to kill him.
"Wait!"
His pursuers were catching up and spreading out, trying to surround him. Itachi didn't care about them, solely focused on the woman intent on ending his life, caught in a stare-off as they both measured each other, tried to read each other's movements. Kids were running away only to turn back and watch when they thought they'd gone a safe distance, vastly underestimating what a fight between jounin could look like.
"It takes an especially pathetic bastard to agree to kill your own," the woman snarled, and took a deliberate step forward. "I think it's about time the world was rid of you."
"Kazue!"
The woman stopped walking at Sasuke's voice, panting and miserable as he neared them. His face was red with exertion, but his eyes were shining with fear, his two friends following him and the impossible monster following them. Itachi tensed further.
"Don't get near him, Sasuke!" Kazue ordered, her eyes stuck to Itachi. "He's dangerous, and he's after you."
Sasuke hesitated at her tone, stopped running only a hairbreadth away from them, much closer than the rest of the crowd muttering quickly at such a statement, giving Sasuke concerned looks. Sasuke whipped his head between Kazue and Itachi, not understanding.
"He's my brother," he argued staunchly. "He's not a threat. He'd never hurt me."
Kazue snarled even fiercer, her anger increasing. She inclined her head at Sasuke, but her anger wasn't for him.
"You know how your mother found evidence that the village would have wiped out the Uchiha?"
Itachi's breath stuttered, his eyes widening.
"Your brother knew about it, and told no one," she said, and turned back to face Itachi. "Even more, agreed to it. Might have been the one ordered to kill everyone. This fucking child would have ended your clan, Sasuke. He's not worthy of your trust."
He should move, should fight, but suddenly Itachi's legs were stone, held captive by what he saw on Sasuke's face as he processed Kazue's words.
It took a moment, a moment for both Sasuke and their spectators to consider that, for hatred and condemnation to spill out freely from the crowd. Sasuke didn't have that reaction. His face twisted up, but then he was shooting forward, throwing himself between Itachi and Kazue - Itachi and the crowd - his arms spread wide in protection.
"Itachi wouldn't do that!" he pleaded, his eyes going from Kazue to the children to the surrounding guards. "You're wrong! I-"
He was trembling, was distressed, but was holding himself firm against the people Itachi only then realized all knew him.
"Your brother is a hero."
He didn't know anything about what had come to pass, but he did know that Sasuke was someone these people admired now, and that Sasuke was still choosing to value Itachi above them, would protect him against all of his new allies and friends.
"We know he did," Kazue snarled, but had a bead of sweat running down her face, was too tense at how Sasuke was now closer to Itachi than she was. "Your brother betrayed your people to your abusers-"
"Itachi wouldn't do that!" Sasuke roared, his voice growing hoarse. "He…" he allowed. "He can say weird stuff sometimes, things I don't agree with, but that doesn't mean he'd hurt innocent people."
No one believed him, Kazue's wrath bearing down on the whole field more convincing than the love of a child. Itachi swallowed, and quickly gained control of himself. This was good news. If Sasuke still trusted him then it would make taking him easier.
"He's here to kidnap you," Kazue spat, correctly guessing Itachi's intention. "To take you away from your family and friends because he doesn't trust them, because he's a traitor. Don't let him manipulate you, Sasuke."
At such a reveal Sasuke's friends got closer, their shock giving way to fear, but Neji was now looking at Itachi with that same kind of contempt as his clan member.
"He wouldn't-"
But Itachi struck, creating four clones quicker than the normal eye could follow and lunged forward, gathering Sasuke in his arms while his clones engaged Kazue. Sasuke yelped, screamed as he hadn't expected the move, and struggled despite the trust he'd shown earlier. Kazue roared, fighting his clones with prejudice. Itachi was fast, and though there were probably those among this crowd that could challenge him he thought he could outrun them all, even with Sasuke's added weight. He lunged to the side, prepared to sprint while Kazue was occupied, but was suddenly cut off by the new variable.
The fox was as big as full-grown inuzuka dog, and despite the fact he should be towering over him Itachi still recognized him for what he was. He screeched, the high scream of a creature hissed through his barred teeth. His shoulders bunched, tails lashed, and Itachi was met with the understanding that he didn't know this creature's capabilities in this form, didn't know if it would be able to track both Itachi and Sasuke down and rend flesh with those massive claws even after they'd thought they were safe.
Then there were the kids: two little boys trembling at the fox's side, spreading out to pen Itachi in. They weren't shivering in fear of the fox, as would be rational. They faced Itachi with a hatred their bodies couldn't contain, their arms spread to not allow Itachi to leave with their friend, the same pose Sasuke had used to defend him. If you want to take Sasuke you'll have to go through us, it said. As if Itachi couldn't hurt them, as if he wouldn't, as if he hadn't already considered the children he'd run through just to save his brother.
He held Sasuke tighter.
"Y-you wouldn't, right?"
He looked down while Sasuke was looking up, his wide, wet eyes now unsure. He grabbed at Itachi's vest, swallowing harshly as he gave it a little tug, like he was trying to force an answer.
"You wouldn't," he said again, but this time it was like Sasuke was trying to convince himself. "You wouldn't…"
"Let him go, you bastard!" Naruto screamed.
He ran at them with a war-cry, and when Itachi tensed to leave he found the fox growling, his muscles ready and eyes darting in any direction, prepared to cut him off. A weak kick connected with Itachi's shins, but Itachi suddenly lashed out as gently as he could, propelling Naruto back towards the fox. The second the fox caught the boy's weight Itachi was off, taking the fox's second of hesitation from absorbing Naruto's impact to give himself the advantage, a head-start in his mad-dash for freedom. Sasuke screamed again, screamed Naruto's name, but he was still in his arms and that was all that mattered.
But then Sasuke wasn't in his arms, disappearing in a puff only for Itachi's shoulder to wrench, two appearing fingers pressed painfully into his chakra point.
Substitution?!
The Hyuuga woman was too close, and Itachi quickly back-flipped away as the palm of her hand came for his head, a powerful downward strike that would no doubt kill him, and realized he needed to end her before she ended him.
"Kazue!"
Itachi flinched, recoiling at the new voice. Luckily Kazue stopped as well, or he'd no doubt be a smear in the dirt.
His mother appeared, throwing herself into the fray and stopping Kazue's next attack, the Hyuuga pulling back at the last second with a vulgar snarl. His mother wasn't posed in front of her, wasn't protecting Itachi like Sasuke had done. She had her back to him, seemed to be taking a few steeling breaths.
"Uchiha Itachi," she declared, her tone nothing he'd ever heard of her before: distanced and authoritative, something more suited for his father. "You're under arrest for conspiracy of mass murder against your fellow Konohagakure citizens, gross criminal intent, and working against the interests of Konoha."
Kazue snarled again, her eyes wild. "You want to arrest him?! He needs to be put down!"
His mother put a hand on Kazue's shoulder, and even though she was faced away from him he knew it was to restrain her, to protect him.
Itachi wasn't given an option to respond, suddenly frozen in the next second, unable to move his limbs at all. Despite that he turned around, his body working against him, and understood a moment later when he came face-to-face with Nara Shikaku, his face white and truly fearful, like Itachi was some kind of monster. More than that, were the a smattering of clan leaders and important fingures, all allowing his mother to exercise authority she shouldn't have, all looking at him like he was their living nightmare.
"No!"
Itachi didn't get to see Sasuke again until he was turned around for the chakra cuffs to go around his wrists, taken from one of the Uchiha police. Sasuke was screaming, all the way back at where Kazue had sent him in their substitution.
"Someone's lying!" he yelled, not even noticing his tears. "Itachi would never do that! He would never-"
Sasuke didn't get a chance to run to him again, restrained by his two friends. They each put a hand around his waist, hugged him even as they held him back, comforting him as Sasuke's brother was arrested by their shared mother.
"Mom, please!" Sasuke sobbed, unable to escape his friend's hold. "It's Itachi! That's- nii-san! My brother- he wouldn't-!"