Moving
The three were completely silent as they made their way back to Naruto's office. Was Sasuke embarrassed about hugging and showing affection to his brother? Not at all. Was he mortified that he balled his eyes out while doing so? Absolutely. He kept his eyes cast either ahead of him or at his feet. He couldn't bring himself to look at the other two except to cast a quick glance their way.
Another 10 minutes of silent walking lead them to the office. They all entered and Naruto sat at his desk chair while the Uchiha brothers sat in some seats in front of him. Naruto then proceeded to inform Sasuke of everything that had happened, starting from when they got the lead on Kabuto all the way up to right before Sasuke came home. Said raven sat in silence to process everything.
"So you're no longer blind?" Sasuke glanced sideways at Itachi who nodded.
"And, the disease is gone? Like completely?" The younger Uchiha turned fully to face the older.
"Sakura wants to do regular testing every two months for about a year or two just to be on the safe side but yes. It is gone." Itachi smiled reassuringly at his otouto. Sasuke smiled back.
"So, now that you're all caught up Sasuke, I messaged Shikamaru to come here. While you're here Itachi, I figured we could talk some more about the future." Naruto stated. The two nodded and a couple of minutes later, the mentioned genius walked in.
"Hey guys. Welcome back Sasuke." The three raven-haired men nodded in greeting.
"Hey Shika! I thought we could talk some more about future plans for these two." Naruto greeted his friend.
"Sure. What about specifically?" Shikamaru asked.
"Well, it hasn't been that long yet so I don't know if you made a decision about a job yet Itachi but I figured we could talk about living arrangements for you both." Naruto turned to the Uchiha brothers.
"I know Sakura has no problem with you two living at her home permanently but I wasn't sure if either of you would want to do that or if you would prefer to get your own places or even get a place for both of you. Of course there's a third option too." Naruto smiled mischievously at the two. Itachi, in confusion at Naruto's expression, turned to Sasuke. Sasuke was staring at Naruto in suspicion.
"What third option?" He cautiously asked the blonde whose smile turned warm all of a sudden.
"You could move into my place!" The blonde almost yelled in obvious excitement at the idea. Sasuke released a breath in relief that the blonde didn't say something weird.
"You know already that just like you and Sakura, Hinata and I divorced a couple of years ago. I left her the house that we lived in but none of my friends would let me move into a one-bedroom apartment again so I have a big 4 bedroom house all to myself and it gets rather lonely when I'm there. This doesn't have to be where you stay forever or anything but I figured this way, both of you could get out of Sakura's house because I know you two feel like you're bothering her. Even with all three of us, there's still an open bedroom for any of the kids to come stay with us on the weekend or when they're free. My house is also closer to the edge of the village so there are not as many people in the area. Since both of your lives are going through major changes right now, this allows you to get your bearings without having to worry about paying for bills or anything since I got the house for free because I'm Hokage." Naruto finally finished talking. The three ravens swore the blonde said all that without taking a single breath.
Shikamaru already knew that Naruto had a major crush on Sasuke. It was part of the reason why his marriage didn't work out. Since said Uchiha was now planning on staying in the village, Naruto told Shikamaru that this was the perfect opportunity to get even closer to the raven than he already was. However, Shikamaru thought he was coming across as a little desperate at the moment. The genius caught Itachi glancing between the blonde and his younger brother, and he knew that Itachi figured out Naruto's feelings immediately. Sasuke, however, was as oblivious as always.
"Jeez dobe, breath next time." Sasuke sighed in exasperation at his friends' antics. "I supposed that's not a bad idea though. I'd rather not move somewhere alone, especially since nii-san is back. Of course, only if you would want to live together that is." Sasuke directed his last sentence to his brother. Itachi smiled at Sasuke's uncertainty.
"In all my life, I've never once lived alone. I don't want to start now. I think Naruto's suggestion is a pretty good idea." Itachi said.
"Great!" Naruto exclaimed before anyone else could say anything.
"That means I don't have to do anything. Makes my job easy." Shikamaru said as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Is tomorrow a good time to start moving your things? Or do you need more time?" The blonde asked the brothers.
"I have no possessions at the moment so tomorrow is good with me." Itachi shrugged his shoulders.
"I myself don't have much besides my clothes and ninja tools so tomorrow is fine." Sasuke agreed with Itachi. "The biggest issue is going to be Sarada."
"Ooh yeah. She's not going to be happy that you're moving out the day after you come home. If it helps her, she's more than welcome to help you move and she can even come stay tomorrow night if she wants." Naruto suggested.
"That would probably be best." Sasuke said.
The group of four talked for a bit. Itachi was still thinking about his job choice so a decision on that wasn't made yet. Shikamaru had gotten a small amount of money for Itachi to be able to buy some clothes and other essentials he didn't have once they moved the next day. As the sun was setting, the four left the office and all headed back home.
The Uchiha brothers were walking down the street in comfortable silence. They were both tired. The day wasn't exactly busy, but it was very emotionally taxing. As they got close to Sakura's house, they could see Sarada standing outside the front door with obvious worry on her face. When she spotted them, the creases on her brow disappeared and she beamed at them while waving her hand high in the air. The two smiled back at her and Itachi lightly waved in return.
"Welcome back! Dinner just finished and is waiting on the table.". Sarada said. The trio walked inside and sat down at the table after greeting Sakura. During dinner, Sasuke told the group about some of his travels and the things he'd seen. Sarada had obvious stars in her eyes about finally being able to see, talk to, and learn about her father. Itachi could see that Sasuke felt guilty about being away the majority of his daughter's life.
After dinner was finished, the two brothers had the two girls in the house sit down in the living so they could talk. The Uchihas' explained their discussion with Naruto and the decision they made. Just as Sasuke guessed, Sarada was very upset. Thankfully they were able to calm her down with the promise that she could visit whenever she wanted and there was a spare bedroom for her to stay at from time to time. After the discussion was over, the occupants all took turns taking showers and then went to bed.
As usual, Itachi was up way before the sun. He didn't want to scare his otouto if he woke up and noticed that his big brother was gone, so Itachi decided not to go to the training grounds that morning. Instead, he made himself some tea and sat outback. About 30 minutes later, Sasuke joined him outside. The two didn't say anything. They didn't need to. They were perfectly content to enjoy the silence.
Eventually, the other two occupants of the house also woke up and Sakura quickly made breakfast. They ate and then the pinkette wished the two men luck on their move and said goodbye to them all before heading out to the hospital. The three ravens left in the house went up to Sasuke's room. Itachi and Sarada started to pack his clothes in some scrolls while he packed his ninja gear.
It took them maybe an hour to finish, so they grabbed the scrolls, Itachi left the spare key he was given on the dining table with a small thank you note for Sakura, and Sarada locked up the house as they left. They met Naruto a little way down the road. He was waiting for them so he could take them back to his house.
Once they made it, the blonde gave them a short tour of the house and showed the two men where their rooms were and then showed Sarada where the guest bedroom was that she could stay in when she was there.
"There's just one problem," Naruto scratched the back of his head when they were in the kitchen. "I don't know how to cook. Everything I have here is basically cup ramen."
Sasuke just sighed at the blonde who chuckled nervously in response. Sarada smiled fondly at the Hokage. Itachi got the feeling that she idolized Naruto. Her eyes sparkled when he was near like he hung the sun itself. Then she actually processed what he said and she frowned a little. Itachi chuckled gaining the attention of the other three. He placed his hand on Sarada's head soothingly.
"Don't worry, I can cook. We'll just need to go grocery shopping." The long-haired raven said.
"Really? That'd be great!" Naruto's smile doubled in size making the three ravens squint from its intensity.
"When did you learn?" Sasuke asked.
"Well," Itachi's smile turned a little sad. "Mom taught me some things." He started and the other two adults immediately turned somber in understanding while Sarada stared in confusion at them. "Then I expanded on her teachings while in the Akatsuki. If you want real homecooked food while living with a bunch of brutish men and a woman who acts like Tsunade, you've got to cook it yourself. I like to think I'm a pretty good cook now because of it."
"I see. Mom was a pretty amazing cook. If she's the one who taught you then I have no doubt your food will be good too." Sasuke's smile actually turned warm. It made Itachi's smile genuine instead of sad as well. Naruto was glad that the two could openly talk about their mother with each other. It was a good sign of their mental state in regards to what happened. Sarada was still confused.
"What just happened?" She decided to ask. The three adults looked between each other a couple of times before Itachi kneeled down.
"Don't worry about it. We'll explain everything another time. There's just something your father and I need to talk about first, ok?" Itachi lifted his hand and gently poked her in the forehead with two fingers. Sarada lifted her hand to her forehead in surprise. She stared at Itachi for a couple of seconds before turning to look at her dad in shock and realization. Sasuke smiled fondly at the two, glad that his daughter can now have a relationship with her uncle. Sarada smiled in return and then turned back to Itachi.
"Ok." She responded with a big smile on her face and slightly teary eyes.
"Well, now that all of our stuff is here and we know what we need, how about we go shopping now. As nii-san said, we need food, and then we also need to get him clothes and whatever else he wants." Sasuke decided to interject before anything could get too sappy. He was already dealing with enough emotions just having his brother back, he didn't need anything else adding to it.
"Yeah! We can get lunch while we're out too." Naruto said.
In agreement, all four left the house with a clothing shop as their first destination. It was the shop that Sasuke got all of his clothes from since the two brothers had similar tastes. Itachi picked out clothes that closely resembled the clothes he had in Akatsuki, obviously minus the outer coat with red clouds. Even though the clothes came from criminals, he did really like them. The ones he picked out weren't completely the same though so he figured it was ok. The shop manager said that the embroidery of the Uchiha symbol would take some time so they paid for everything then left to go to the next shop. They would come back for the finished clothes after lunch and getting groceries.
They entered the weapons shop that pretty much all shinobi use. It had everything from the common small weapons like kunai to specialized weapons like swords and fans. Itachi spent some time browsing before deciding that he actually missed using a sword. He picked up a couple pouches of kunai and shuriken then headed over to where the longer blades were lining one of the walls. While Sasuke preferred a full lengthed regular sword, Itachi preferred the short swords. They were about medium length. Shorter than normal swords but still longer than daggers.
"Oh, you use swords to Itachi?" Naruto asked as he came over. "I don't recall ever seeing you have one before."
"I didn't have one in the Akatsuki. While I was there, my sickness had gotten worse and it had gotten difficult to fight in the traditional means. I tried to move as little as possible in most fights. Most of the time I left things up to Kisame since he loved to fight anyway." Itachi explained. The blonde hummed in interest at the explanation.
"Well, if you get a sword then Sasuke will have a partner to practice his kenjutsu skills with." Naruto turned to look at his best friend who was also browsing over the swords.
"That's true. It's been a while since I've been able to do kenjutsu outside of a real battle." Sasuke muttered. He picked up a sword and tested out its balance before putting it back with a slight frown.
"I see. Then that's something we can certainly find time to do later." Itachi smiled. The two brothers nodded to each other in agreement and went back to browsing.
After about a solid hour of picking up swords and then putting them back in rejection, Itachi seemed to finally find one that suited his tastes. It was a medium-sized sword just like he wants. It was solid black with some red string wrapped around the sheath where it met the handle. When he took the blade out of the sheath and rested the blade just past the handle on his finger, it balanced perfectly. The steel it was made out of was very strong and sturdy. It was perfect. He hummed happily to himself at his find and re-sheathed the weapon. He turned to the others.
The other three watched Itachi as he inspected every inch of the blade like a true kenjutsu master. When he finished they followed him to the counter where he proceeded to pay for the items. Once they finally left the weapons shop, they headed over to Ichiraku for lunch. Naruto managed to convince them to go. As they were sitting and enjoying their food Sasuke thought of something.
"Naruto, did you ever inform Kakashi-sensei of the situation? I know Tsunade is aware of it because she helped with his medical exams." Sasuke asked. Naruto gasped.
"No! I completely forgot to tell him." The blonde exclaimed.
"Dobe." Sasuke's responded
"I'll have to do that later when I go back to the office. He's still on vacation right now." Naruto was thinking out loud at that point. Itachi wasn't sure what to think. He and Kakashi were actually pretty good friends when they were in Anbu. On one hand, he would love to see his friend again and wondered how he was doing, but on the other hand, he was worried about what Kakashi would think of him after everything that he had done and what had happened over the final years of the war. He decided to worry about that when it came so for the time being, he would continue to enjoy his time with his family.