Kisame chuckled darkly. "Itachi-san is homesick, so he came back to take a look."
"By now, he should have already met him, his dear little brother." Kisame spoke without scruples, showing zero concern about revealing Itachi's leverage to the others.
Hearing this, Sasori shot him a calculating look. As one of the Akatsuki's core members responsible for intelligence collection, Sasori knew a bit more than the rank and file.
On the surface, Kisame and Itachi were partners, in reality, Kisame existed to monitor him.
According to Pain's schedule, neither of them was assigned to this mission. Yet here they were, and split up, no less. That meant Kisame had definitely received orders to separate from Itachi.
Obviously, that order hadn't come from Pain.
'Who, then?' Sasori's gaze swept over Kakuzu and Deidara.
'Not them.'
There was a second faction hidden within the Akatsuki.
"None of my business." Sasori knew what he knew, but he had no desire to get involved. Pain was here, let the Leader worry about the politics. Sasori just needed to do his job.
His gaze landed on his opponent, Konoha Jonin Kurenai Yuhi. 'I don't have a female specimen in my collection yet. I wanted Pakura but sadly my injuries from fighting Third Kazekage were far too severe at that time.'
Kurenai's strength seemed decent. He might consider adding her to the set.
--**--**
"Heads up, everyone. We've got a guest incoming," Naruto announced with a sudden grin as he led the group back toward the battlefield.
In his perception, Itachi was rushing straight toward them.
'Sasuke.' Naruto's voice resonated directly in Sasuke's mind. 'A guy you're very interested in is almost here.'
Sasuke was long used to this voice speaking suddenly in his heart. As long as it was Naruto, anything could be explained. This silent method of communication attracted no attention from the others.
'Who?' Sasuke asked, though he already had the answer.
Aside from Naruto, there was only one person in the entire Shinobi World who could spark his interest.
'Itachi.'
Even though he was prepared, Sasuke's eyes bled crimson the instant he heard the name. The memories of his parents and the tragic state of the Uchiha Clan Massacre flooded his mind.
'Do you remember what I told you?' Naruto continued.
Over the years they had spent together, Naruto hadn't just walked Sasuke through the massacre, he had forced him to review that night repeatedly, even reconstructing the scene of Itachi's slaughter. He had analyzed the reasons behind the tragedy for him more than once.
Before Orochimaru got his claws into him, early Sasuke's values had been relatively normal. He listened to reason, cherished his comrades, and was willing to sacrifice himself for them. By Uchiha standards, he was practically normal to the extreme. Though, while acting cool and liking to posture, also got shy, got jealous, and reacted like a normal human being. He would analyze an opponent's strength and judge the situation.
But in the original timeline, after being taken by Orochimaru and enduring the three-year time skip, Sasuke's brain had started developing in an abnormal direction. That Sasuke had become a posturing stoic, an 'Aura Farmer'. When encountering issues, he didn't think at all, he just postured and rushed in blindly.
Under Orochimaru's training, Sasuke's strength had indeed been greatly developed, but Naruto strongly suspected this power was traded for his brain cells. After all, Orochimaru only wanted Sasuke's body, a Sasuke with superior intelligence would actually be a liability to him.
And just like that, the last normal Uchiha had been mentally crippled by Orochimaru.
'Does Itachi love you, or does he love Konoha? Do you want to find out?' This was the dichotomy Naruto had once presented to him.
'No need. What he thinks in his heart doesn't matter.' Contrary to Naruto's expectations, Sasuke's mental voice was unnervingly calm. Presumably, he had already prepared for this day. 'I will kill him with my own hands.'
'The sinner of the Uchiha will be killed by the Uchiha.'
Naruto recalled a strange conclusion he had once read in forum in past life: 'Everyone in the Shinobi World has the right to blame Itachi and hate Itachi, but Sasuke does not. Because Itachi destroyed the whole clan but did not kill Sasuke, and because everything Itachi did was for Sasuke.'
People who reached this conclusion were baffling.
First of all, leaving aside whether Itachi loved Sasuke or not, his actions weren't truly for Sasuke, they were for Konoha. It was for the village that he raised the butcher's knife against the Uchiha. Itachi even had plans to use Kotoamatsukami on Sasuke to brainwash him into being a loyal tool for Konoha.
Genocide of Uchiha clan was a severe blow to the village, Kumo had sent multiple squads to 'pursue a rogue ninja' but Hiruzen and Danzo both would've been able to predict that. While they both had malicious intent towards Uchiha, they wouldn't have ordered elimination of children and toddlers, because they were far easier to control and brainwash. Itachi killed all of them to raise Sasuke's value in eyes of the village but then mentally tortured him using Tsukuyomi,
Kakashi would've been in coma for months to even years due to that being used on him, without Tsunade's healing. So while Itachi held back on severity of the torture, that attack still had high chance of mentally crippling Sasuke.
Secondly, Sasuke's entire family and clan were slaughtered. Just because he wasn't killed due to the killer's so-called "love," did that mean Sasuke lost the right to hate him?
Sasuke has no right to hate Itachi? Should he thank him? Be grateful to him?
There was no logic to it.
Normal logic dictated that while the people of Konoha might not have the right to hate Itachi, Sasuke was the one person in the entire Shinobi World most entitled to vengeance.
"Because Itachi loves Sasuke and didn't kill him, Sasuke has no right to blame Itachi." This was complete moral blackmail, twisted by warped values. No, it didn't even count as moral blackmail, because there was no morality in it.
It was like saying, "Because I love you, all the money in your pocket belongs to me."
'Understood.' Naruto nodded. He respected Sasuke's opinion, especially regarding Itachi.
They say that after spending a long time together, people's thinking patterns and habits develop in the direction of their company. 'Influenced by one's company', as the saying goes. That was why setting a good example was necessary.
Although the current Sasuke couldn't be said to have perfectly correct values, he was definitely not that bastard from the original timeline with the peculiar logic, the one whose whole clan was slaughtered, who hated the killer to death, but upon hearing "your brother actually loved you," happily ran over to grovel.
'I will personally avenge my clansmen!' Sasuke declared decisively.
'If you fail, I will kill him before he can control you,' Naruto emphasized.
Naruto did not hide the threat of Kotoamatsukami from Sasuke. He could not sit idly by, once he noticed something wrong, Naruto would strike Itachi down on the spot quickly.
'Okay.' Sasuke's voice was faint, his mood dipping slightly.
It was understandable. Being stuck with such a mentally abnormal brother would make even the most cheerful person neurotic.
"Do not be troubled by that false brotherhood. I am your brother, Indra." Naruto patted his shoulder, feeding a faint Ki infusion through his palm and into Sasuke's body. It managed to slightly dispel the gloom in Sasuke's heart.
Sasuke nodded seriously. During these years together, he had long come to regard Naruto as his true brother.
"I won't be troubled by that false brotherhood, Ashura-nii!"
At that precise moment, a man in a black robe patterned with red clouds appeared before them.
It was Itachi.
Itachi didn't even spare a glance at the others. His gaze was fixed solely on Sasuke, and he spoke softly.
"Sasuke."
===============
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