Chapter 4
Once Kakashi and Tsunade had entered her office and sat down on the sofa there, the sofa for more comfort than the desk.
"Ok, so. Before I tell you anything about Itachi's condition, I need to get something else done with you first." Tsunade stated
"Ok, then let's get it done"
"Right now, Itachi is 17 years old, he needs a legal guardian and since Sasuke is alrea-"
"I'll do it. You don't even have to ask, I thought it was an obvious fact, that I'd take him in."
"Although I am glad to hear that, you need to be aware, that Itachi will require special care, both mentally and physically. He was tortured for four years, god knows what kinds of psychological scars that's gonna leave and as much as I regret saying it, those for years have not done his body any good, there will be lasting damage and he will need help with certain things."
"It doesn't matter. You've seen how relieved Sasuke was. They only have each other now and besides that, Itachi and I have known each other for a long time, if he can't do everything on his own anymore we'll find a solution."
"Alright, then I'll get the papers ready. Lucky for you the Uchihas have a higher standing in society and the city will pay for his entire stay in the hospital and the medical support he needs.
Anyways, now onto Itachi. I didn't want to tell you everything while Sasuke is still with us. I can't say it to him in comforting words and I don't think he can take the full truth right now.
Around 45% of his body is covered in scar tissue, showing signs of whipping, stabwounds and various other cuts, these probably come form Madara and Hiruzen, though we have no proof of that.
When we found him he had fresh injuries and some older ones that were heavily infected. While we were examining him we found internal injuries in his lungs and stomach, both from outside influences, meaning stabbing and from inside ones, meaning gas, base and acid.
Those injuries will leave lasting damage, as of now, we can't say how severe. To know that, we'll have to wait until he wakes up.
There is also nerve damage in his left arm, which is added on top of that also broken and it's shoulder was dislocated. We popped it back in place, the break will heal, the nerve damage will take at least five to ten years.
However that is unfortunately not the worst part. His eyes are also damaged, the police told us Madara confessed to having stopped Danzo Shimura from ripping out his eyes, trying to stop him form gaining Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan.
The eyes are still in their socket but damaged, the right eye lost about 70% of it's capability, while the left luckily only lost around 20%. Unfortunately damage to the optic nerve is irreversible, which means he'll have to live with that till the end of his live, although we did discover, that the Sharingan can still be activated. We have a theory, that it might serve as sight in critical situations.
For now that is all I can tell you about his condition, he is currently unconscious, luckily he did not fall into a coma. If that had happened, I don't know, if things had turned out like this."
For a moment Kakashi was silent, trying to digest her words. This meant Itachi will be disabled for the rest of his live, not to mention the trauma he'll likely have to carry around.
He didn't what to say, so he just his thoughts run free.
"Shit" It wasn't said like a loudly cursed exclamation, it was more of a barely audible sound.
"I know this is a lot all at once, but do you now understand why I didn't want to tell Sasuke everything at once. He'll need to find out at some point, but right now, I feel like he's overwhelmed enough with everything that he does know." She paused for a second, before continuing
"Listen, Kakashi, if you say this is too much for you, I get it. I'll find someone who'll take him. Maybe I'll ask-"
"-no, no, that's not it. I said it doesn't matter how bad it is, I'll take him. Anyways Sasuke'll kill me if I don't, but I also want him to come home to me. If it somehow interfere's with my job, I'll find a new one, it doesn't matter, I mean, theoretically I've had enough field experience to start teaching, then I'd be home more often and the payment doesn't make that much of a difference, if anything it's even a little safer. I'll manage it somehow."
"Then I'll let you do that, but just know, you don't have to quit your job just for him, I can surely find someone who can drop by to check up on him while you're at work and the kids are at school. Luckily he's already graduated, if we had to send him to school like that, jesus. But that's not the point, I can surely get someone who can help you, maybe even for free, since the city pays for his medical support."
"I really appreciate that, but I've had the feeling it's time to quit anbu anyways, it's a dangerous job, I could die anytime, especially in the field. The kids know what I do, they understand what that job is, especially Sasuke. Every day they have to live with the thought that there's a high chance I might not come back in the evening. I know it's wearing on them, I see it every day when I leave and everyday when I come back. Anbu agent is not the job a single father should have and I do consider myself as that.
I'm raising three boys alone, all of them have once lost everything or never had anything else than me to begin with, they all rely on me and soon, I'll have a recently injured and now disabled teenager who will have to rely on me even more. With that kind of responsiblility I can't have a job that has dying on duty in it's job description.
I've thought about quitting for a while, this is just the last straw. I haven't really liked it ever since Itachi was gone, our team started to fall apart without him and then they were just dropping like flies. I was just lucky to have been gifted my Sharingan, otherwise I don't know whether I would have survived until now.
In the past that never used to bother me, I had nothing and no one to live for, but ever since 7 year old Naruto moved in, there was a reason to come back home. I don't want to take that risk anymore. Now I have a perfect reasoning to quit, despite my contract, which our new boss, whoever that'll be won't be able to deny."