Mariposa, or, The butterfly effect

After a series of incredibly interesting adventures an incredibly bedraggled and miserable Tsunade was hauled back to Konoha not unlike a sopping wet alleycat being hauled by the scruff out of a casserole it was trying to enjoy.

This is partially because her drunken self fumbled off the bridge on the way to the hospital and partially because she just didn't want to be there, but like, they got here there. Eventually.

By the time they did Sasuke was more than a little low in faith in her, and Sakura was more than a little ticked. Naruto was the only reason they even got her back there, and Kakashi was still psychologically recovering from the fact he’d had to put on an audiobook for Itachi of his cheesy questionable romance novel he loves so much before they left and his deep fear a nurse was going to listen to it and judge him.

It took a while to actually get themselves remotely ready for actually solving problems, but once everyone was dry, calm, and sober,  everyone piled into Itachi’s bedroom.

It was nighttime, dark, and quiet, and Tsunade was carefully tracing her glowing hand over him.

Sasuke wanted to be grateful, but there was a hint of rage in the unfairness of it, that that was all it took.

That Itachi’s eyes fluttered open, and a fresh alertness overtook him unlike any he’d shown before his accident.

Still confused, but not in a daze.

His hand reached up to clutch his head as he slowly sat up. The blockage was finally fixed.

Of course, he knew it was delicate work. Of course it only *looked* simple and it was actually incredibly careful chakra work.

But he felt a twisting of shame and rage in his chest as he thought of just how long it took for them to finally figure out just what was wrong, let alone to *fix it*

So many years were stolen from his brother because he wasn't able to be a better medical nin.

His fists clenched in frustration, but he waited till Tsunade turned to them all with a pleasant smile, much more pleasant than any she previously liked to give.

“It was a pretty unusual looking chakra block- and a few other smaller things that were much more complicated to fix- but…thankfully I know what I’m doing eh?…don’t look at me like that Uchiha, you couldn’t have fixed it yourself. That wasn’t a normal medical problem.” She told him, he was taken aback, visibly stumbling back where he stood and looking away as he dropped his clenched fists to his side, allowing them to relax.

“You took great care of him okay?” She strolled over and plopped a hand atop his head, ruffling his hair.

“You’re only a kid, you shouldn’t have to bear this kind of weight okay…?” she said in a tone kinder than Sasuke thought she was capable of, he hesitantly looked up to meet her gaze.

“It's not your fault. You did everything you could, and then some. You’re a good brother, so I don't want to see you beating yourself up. You kept him alive this long, he’d never have lasted this long without you, and you sought me out to get him the help he needed” She grinned, almost too much like how Naruto does. It felt too bright for the dark room, and sort of forced, for his sake, but still forced.

“You saved him, I just finished the job.” She finished ruffling his hair and stepped aside, nudging him to Itachi who slowly looked over at them all with a curious stare.

Little did they know what was going through Itachi’s head.

Which was mostly, unbearable guilt.

Itachi sat there, staring through those traitorous eyes that wouldn't budge for so many years, only finally letting him lift them, this body that finally let him move, the exhaustion finally clearing from his mind and body.

It was a bit hard to hear everyone, not too hard, but some words came out funny in his ears, some tones not registering coming together to sound like other words. His ears were ringing- and had been for years now…

Sasuke was approaching, a hopeful, yet wary expression on his face like he was scared he was going to just pass right back out.

Looking for any semblance of his missing brother in the eyes of an imposter.

“I'm- so sorry- wait- I'm not who you think I am I think-“ Itachi blurted out quickly raising an arm. “We need to talk please-“
his voice cracking, he was never able to get his words together enough to explain-

Sasuke stopped short of the bed, eyes widening in distress.

“What are you talking about-“

“I’m not... I'm not supposed to be here. I think at least-?” Itachi fumbled his words. He’d been out for so long that he frankly wasn’t sure how much was a dream and how much was reality.

“He's probably confused right now, he might have some memory loss or brain damage, but he seems mostly intact….” Tsunade frowned grimly, glancing at Sasuke.

“Right-“Sasuke sighed, he’d mentally prepared for this, and yet just hearing that made the dark circles under his eyes so much deeper.

“It's true- I- like- okay! I’ll concede you're probably my brother- but-“ Itachi waved his hand clumsily, struggling with his limbs that felt unfamiliar now. “But there's something- WRONG with me okay?” He sighed “…because none of this makes any logical sense…” he said deflating where he sat rubbing at his head “ I mean- surely I was misunderstanding something, I mean- I'm not going to look out this window and see some sort of ninja village. I just- fell asleep behind the wheel- and- that's it right??” he gestured out the window before turning his head to look out it.
Uh oh.
Yeah okay so maybe that's a ninja village. But clearly, he's imagined the ninja part- maybe something is just mixed up- he's pretty sure these people must be close to him, he's just imagined up some grand anime story about them obviously so…

“Huh…” he trailed off grimacing, turning his head back to look at them.

“And I imagined up being a girl..”He trailed off glancing back at the others “..I mean obviously you use male pronouns for me usually right…?” He looked at their increasingly concerned expressions.

“…ugh. And my name is Itachi- which seems like kind of a weird name to me but...whatever, but I'm not actually some …powerful ninja right? I work at a fast food place- I just- I'm just an overworked fry cook…” he mumbled “...Right?”

“it's all jumbled…I just- okay so maybe I am who you think I am but…” he trails off.

“Itachi it’s okay…” Sasuke sighed smiling sadly. “What matters is you know you’re my brother right?…you know you’re safe. And you’re awake.” Sasuke stepped forward pulling him into a hug embracing his confused and lost older brother. He stiffened for a moment before relaxing into it shutting his eyes and resting his head on his shoulders, hugging him back.

“…Okay. I hope I can remember who I’m supposed to be…” he mumbled quietly “I don't understand what’s going on, but I'll figure it out. We made it this far after all…thank you.”He sighed, relaxing finally. 

“Yeah…” Sasuke sighed. “Want to see father and mother? And shisui of course” he said.

“Shisui…is alive? And Fugaku and Mikoto- I mean-…father and mother?” he said, visibly stunned leaning back, relief filling his eyes “But you’re so old…everyone should be dead by now…”

Sasuke didn't understand, how could he?
It was a nightmare from another timeline after all, instead, he just laughed softly and said “I’m not that old Nii-san…”

“I-…” Itachi trailed off. He recalled how close Danzo Shimura’s face had been right before the blast, how could he not remember…

The old nightmare must have died in the blast.

“Of course” Itachi relaxed, smiling in relief. Maybe he’d imagined up that alternate timeline anyway…right?

Right…of course.

It’s just a bad dream he had after a bad accident.

“Right- I would like to see them then. Thank you- “Itachi confirmed.

“It's so nice to finally get to meet you while you’re awake” Sakura smiled leaning over. “Sasuke’s talked about you for so long” she beamed.

“I remember you- you’ve been one of my nurses this whole time…you made things so much easier for Sasuke-…Thank you so much, you’re Miss Haruno?” Itachi asked looking at her in visible gratitude, trying to adopt the mannerisms he remembered he was supposed to have before the accident, to the best of his abilities.

“Yes that’s me” Sakura beamed eyes shining “I guess you do remember a bit huh?” She asked.

“You got into being a medical-nin just to help him- right?” he asked.

Her eyes widened in fright, she hadn't expected him to remember that- she’d just been talking to him randomly while Sasuke was sick and unable to come take care of Itachi one day…

“…I didn’t think you’d remember that” she admitted laughing nervously, glancing away.

“Really? That’s what-….?” Sasuke glanced over at Sakura in surprise.

“…thank you” he shut his eyes in gratitude, sighing. Surprised she’d go so far for him.

Naruto clutched his hand over his heart, thinking fondly of how kind she was- “wow Sakura-chan you’re so selfless and sweet-“ he said.

She laughed and flapped her hand at them “What- me- no I just- wanted to help my friend stop it-“ She laughed, though her inner self secretly was quite delighted to be appreciated for it- it was a lot of hard work so- like yeah she wanted at least SOME praise for it-

it made her feel like she actually belonged on this team, and contributed something. She wanted that more than just about anything…

“Of course, it's just friendship, after all, you’re definitely not going to get married and have a child, and name it Sarada…” Itachi coughed into his hand. “What who said that- not me- no-“ Itachi glanced around, it was a joke of course…that was all something random he dreamed up after all not something based in reality.

Sakura still looked kind of like someone smacked her across the face, glancing at him nervously.

She’d never told anyone the name she’d always wanted to name a kid if she had one- how did he guess that?

“Yeahhh of course not- haha- of course not-“ She laughed nervously.

“Niisan pl e a s e” Sasuke pled in despair, looking at him miserably for mercy.

“Of course of course don't mind me…just a confused old man…” Itachi chuckled.

“You’re twenty you’re not old-“ Tsunade sighed.

“Twenty is basically a fossil, hes like, definitely old.” Naruto said “I mean just look at the face wrinkles-“ 

“stop CALLING HIM OLD he's not old don't say that- “ Sasuke and Naruto immediately began bickering ruining the peace and quiet of the night. The amount of slapping and biting was more than reasonable for a medical professional but they're also actual children, so give them some mercy.

It wasn’t until the next morning that Itachi got to meet with his parents.

Shisui waited impatiently in the guest waiting room wanting to take a turn but not allowed to just yet, so he just paced around and fussed with various magazines looking for interesting snippets amongst the fishing advice and the home organization tips.

Fugakus's first words when he entered were “Well I’m glad to see you’re finally awake…” As his mother rushed to hug him, burying Itachi in affection and petting his head, breaking down and crying in relief.

Fugaku smiled slightly at the sight, but he kept himself as composed as he could.
“….I hope now Sasuke will finally be able to go back to normal ninja training, he’s been really held back- but…that's not important right now” he stopped himself as Mikoto shot a glower at him, if she had the mengekyo sharingan the man might be dead after his poor timing.

“Right- how are you feeling, He mentioned you were…confused,” Fugaku said.

“Y…yes a bit. So. Ninjas are…not something my brain made up…? Do I have to…do that? Ninja stuff?” Itachi asked, squinting at Fugaku unhappily at the thought. “That sounds…awful”

“…well..no. Not anymore” Fugaku sighed. He grimaced, glancing down at Itachi’s limbs.

There were severe burns visible on his arms and legs. Long since healed yes, but he wondered if Itachi had even noticed how weak his grip clearly was, how unstable he seemed physically speaking.

How frail and weak.

“What am I going to do then…? I'm not a fry cook either- right…?” Itachi questioned looking puzzled. “I'm not sure what I’m supposed to have experience doing…”

“well you’re a good cook but…you’ve never been a fry cook.” Mikoto said gently smiling sadly “Thankfully…why don’t you just…rest and relax. You don’t need to work..and …I think you may not … really be in a good state for that kind of thing. If you want to pursue that, you know we’ll gladly support and help you- but…right now you’re considered retired and you’ve been getting a retirement check and your medical bills paid by the village since your …accident” she explained.

“…I can retire…?” Itachi’s eyes widened.

Fugaku and Mikoto had never seen such a sparkle in his eyes, the smile that blossomed on his face was utter bliss. “I can just…do whatever I want with my life now? I have…money saved up? I have…free time?” he asked, visibly shaking with relief.

Mikoto and Fugaku glanced at each other in concern, wondering just how overworked their once 13-year-old son had been prior to his accident. No wonder he wasn't able to defuse a bomb.

Maybe it's not a great idea to make children into ninjas… it doesn't look like it's good for their mental health.

“Yeah- you can do anything you want.” Mikoto smiled looking at him with a pitying and apologetic expression.

“I'm going to…” itachi trailed off.

“I don't know. I never thought about it…” he looked utterly lost “What do you do with free time?”

“I'm sure Shisui can help you with that.” Fugaku sighed “Don’t worry…” He rolled his eyes. “He retired shortly after your accident after all.”

“Retired….” Itachi repeated trailing off, visibly starry-eyed.

“Want to talk to him? We don't have much time to stay for much longer- and we don't want him to run out of visiting time too…” Mikoto said.

“Ye…yes. Please” Itachi clutched his hands together “I have a lot I need to discuss with Shisui…” A smile blossoming on his lips, more innocent and bright than anything their once exhausted-looking son had worn.

It didn't seem quite right…
But maybe he just…forgot some traumatic things.

That's what they told themselves, it was a good thing after all- right?
So they just…left, giving hugs and goodbyes, and sending in Shisui Uchiha.

So that Itachi and Shisui could enjoy the delights of retirement..together.