Itachi was internally panicking. So much so that it was even starting to show on his normally emotionless face.
He couldn't help the intense feeling of complete dread in his stomach that signalled something was incredibly wrong, that something held so tightly in his grasp was letting go.
He didn't let up as he raced across tree branches, sharingan activated in his whirlwind of emotions. Shisui was right behind him—not that he needed to be, having chosen to following him as "back up" instead of the moral support he would need if it was true—
Itachi forced the thoughts away, they would do no good and only serve to distract him.
He continued onwards, closing in on his destination, where at least ten other shinobi were standing, surrounding the small body he had been sent out to check. He felt his breath catch as he stumbled closer, as the Jonin took in his face and sent pitying looks his way.
A small curl of anger rose in his chest at that. They were acting as if it was really him—
Dully, he felt Shisui put a comforting hand on his shoulder, his fingers gripping into his flesh grounding him from floating away.
He took a subtle breath, trying to calm himself enough to actually look. It wasn't working.
Still, he had a duty, a job to do. It might not even be Sasuke. Just some other unfortunate child, who couldn't possibly be his little brother.
Steeling himself, he finally stepped forward to the corpse, barley noticing the other shinobi backing away and letting him have a clear view of—
His breath got caught in his throat. The body was turned away from him, limbs sprawled like he was just dumpedthere without a care in the world, but that dark hair...
The black locks were damning, and extremely recognisable, especially to him. He would know, he had brushed it a thousand times. It was a stark contrast to the too white skin it was covering, to the blood trails stuck to the familiar Uchiha clothing he wore.
Suddenly, Itachi felt a sort of calm wash over him. Like a blanket was covering his ability to feel, allowing numbness to reach the surface of his body.
He didn't allow himself to think what it meant that he was going into his ANBU mental state.
He shrugged Shisui's hand off his shoulder, moving forward more quickly and efficiently than before, until he was right beside the body. Through his haze, he felt his hand reach out to the corpses upper arm, tugging his down so that the body moved so that it was facing him.
He heard the sharp gasp behind him, felt the tension of horror flow into the air as there was no turning back.
Upon looking at the face he had memorised and searched for for days, Itachi felt as the numbness gave way, as emotion after emotion hit him so hard in the chest he couldn't breathe.
Because that—that was Sasuke, his baby brother, lying there with dried blood cascading down his face from where his eyes had been ripped out. Face far too pale, far too bloody and far too real. And oh my gods, it was real.
His hand shook with the realisation, still on his dead brothers arm—
That was Sasuke, no doubt about it. No matter where he looked, there were imperfect perfections of his brothers face that matched every detail in his sharingan filled memory.
Sasuke, his seven-year-old innocent brother was dead.
ohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgod
What was Itachi even doing? He had to have been the most horrible over brother to have ever existed, because Sasuke was deaddeaddeaddead and Itachi had done nothing.
It was all his fault.
Maybe if he had kept his promises to Sasuke, spent more time with him, helped him train, then this would never have happened. He would be alive, happy and smiling and still blissfully ignorant of the world.
It was his fault.
Itachi barely noticed as his vision become better, details becoming clearer and clearer, as power he had never felt before built behind his eyes. As his mangekyou activated and became trained on his brothers corpse.
The sight was sealed into his mind with perfect accuracy, no details missed. He even noticed things he hadn't before, like how his brother had stab wounds in all parts of his body and how his skin was littered with dark purple bruises. How his hands held blistering calluses that had not been there two weeks ago.
He also noticed the face lines on his face. How they were twisted up in agony, forever etched onto his premature face. The realisation hit him hard, a mix of emotions like anger, guilt and sadness swirling in the very fibre of his being.
Sasuke had died in pain. All those injuries, all those battle wounds did not come from battle. Sasuke had been tortured. Were his eyes ripped out when he was still alive? How long did he have to go without them? How long was his brother in pain and blind?!
He knew he was working himself into a frenzy, but he couldn't help it. That was his little brother.
"Itachi?"
The voice instantly broke him out of his own head, like a rock thrown at a window and the glass shattering (just like his heart).
Slowly, Itachi turned his head back to look at the person who had spoken—Shisui. His face held a dark understanding as he looked at him, as he took in the resigned posture of his cousin.
Still, despite already knowing, he still asked. "Is it him?"
Itachi stared deep into his cousins eyes, his voice gravely even to his own ears as he answered.
"It's him."
. . .
It was never meant to end like that.
Never.
They were meant to have found Sasuke, possibly scratched and bruised, but alive.
Shisui knew that the chances grew slimmer and slimmer as each day past with no signs of improvement.
He had been missing for eleven days, with no clues on where he was or what could have happened.
Mikoto had been the first to notice, when Sasuke didn't return home from the academy. She had merely assumed at first that he had gone off to find Itachi, so she had waited until her eldest arrived home late at night.
Her small worry had amplified when Itachi returned alone.
Itachi, who had just returned from a two day mission, immediately went to notify his father.
That night, the manhunt began.
Shisui was one of the first people asked to help search, which he didn't hesitate in doing. Especially with the potential danger of Sasuke becoming one of the 'missing cases'.
With Uchiha children disappearing left and right, everyone had become vigilant in watching over their young. Although, if Shisui had to guess, the reason someone wasn't watching intently over Sasuke was because of his status as second son.
Being a probable heir to the clan head, most had just assumed that no one would have the gall to take him.
How wrong they had been.
He never told Itachi, but the signs were too similar to the other cases. So much so, that he had begun to lose hope of ever finding Sasuke.
The other missing children had never been found, never reappeared alive or dead.
He wasn’t sure if he was thankful or not considering the state they had found Sasuke in.
The investigation was going so agonisingly slow, that Shisui just knew that there was foul play going on. Of course, having no direct leads also contributed to that fact, but the Uchiha police force was being directly denied by the clan elders to interrogate, search and even mention the death of the second son.
So, of course, that meant that the clan heads of the village were in the dark about the Uchiha and the ‘missing children’ problem.
As of the current situation, only the Uchiha, the Hokage and a few Jonin knew about the death of Sasuke Uchiha.
Which also put a holt to investigating because no one knew and therefore refused to cooperate without reason.
Reason that Shisui hoped would be enough to convince Sasuke’s academy teacher to spill the beans about what actually happened the day he disappeared.
Landing outside of the home of Iruka Umino, Shisui didn’t let him think about how his actions were going against the direct orders of the Leaf.
. . .
Mikoto's face crumbled, sobs racking through her body with the intensity only a mother could hold as she saw the battered body.
Even Fugaku had dropped his normally stoic face, head held in his hands as his youngest lay on the alter of the Naka Shrine. Typically, it was only the clan head or clan heir that was allowed to lay upon the alter, yet all members agreed to let the second son have the honour.
Sasukes eyelids lay closed around empty sockets, if only for his final image for the clan. He was laying on his back in the ceremonial robes that had been gingerly placed on him. To the untrained eye, he almost appeared to be sleeping.
Of course, that was before you noticed how still he was, and how his face was forever etched in anguish. It was more accurate to say he was having a nightmare.
All Uchiha had gathered, had prayed to Amaterasu, and had gradually left after paying their respects to their fallen clan mate.
There was tension all over the compound since the body had been found, the state and death of the second son of the clan head bring much strife between the Uchiha and the rest of the Leaf.
Only the immediate family and close friends remained, having a more private setting to bid farewell.
Shisui watched from the sidelines of the room as Itachi and his parents cried, watched as they sobbed. He watched as they cursed the person who did this, as they drowned in anger and despair.
He watched them break.
A small chip of life and soul had been taken away from all three of them. Sasuke's death had killed something inside each of them.
Usually, when an Uchiha child died, it didn't cause this much emotion, even to the direct family members.
Dying was an expected outcome in being a shinobi, after all, nobody was safe.
It was a possibility that could never be ruled out, no matter the mission or situation. So having to see a loved ones dead body after mishap or failure in a mission wasn't a complete surprise.
Uchiha's loved intensely, and they all knew of the dangers of having lost that love, the hatred that seeped in. To counter this, all Uchiha parents and siblings had long since prepared for the untimely death of someone.
No one was naive enough to think that someone would never die.
Shisui ponders idly, as he watches a family—his family—lose themselves to grief, that Sasuke's death was such a blatant shock for a single reason.
Sasuke was not a shinobi.
He was a seven-year-old child that still went to school and had no outstanding talents despite the potential.
He wasn’t a genius like Shisui or Itachi that needed to be eliminated because he was a potential threat, no, he was a child who loved his older brother, and played with a dinosaur plush.
He was, simply put, just a semi-regular kid who was innocent and naive about the world.
And that thought, that truth, made him simmer with rage. Such undisputed, uncontainable fury that someone that was so innocent was murdered for what could only be because of his eyes. His linage.
Shisui had seen the way Sasukes body had been found, just dumped in the woods like he was nothing, no one important. The way he had been discarded after be had served his use.
To whoever did the heinous crime, it was certain that they only viewed Sasuke as a tool. Something to exploit and use to further themselves.
It made him feel justified to have broken the rules, to have broken work of law that he had followed all his life in order to gather information.
Information that he was now about to share.
“Fugaku-sama, Mikoto-san, there…I found something out this morning.” His voice came out rough, loud in the silence that followed.
Fugaku raised his eyes to meet his own, expression imploring despite the grief and anger that resided there.
“What.”
Shisui took a deep breath. “I talked to Sasuke’s Academy teacher. He said that Sasuke never showed up for school the day he went missing.”
A pause—and then he was facing the Sharingan enraged face of his clan head. “What. Are you telling me that he was missing for the entire day and no one thought to report it earlier!?”
Mikoto buried her face in her hands at that, failure no doubt course through her. Itachi was silent, yet his expression and body language said it all.
He was just as infuriated as his father.
Before Fugaku could go on a murder spree, with Itachi most likely going him, Shisui decided to get to the real slice of information he gathered.
“That’s not just it. The academy teacher never called anything in because apparently, he had received a note from Mikoto-san saying that Sasuke would be absent.”
Absolute silence at that. Gradually, everyone turned to face the distraught mother, who, by the way, looked like she had just eaten a lemon so sour her face was stuck in permanent bitterness.
Quietly, yet full of conviction, she whispered out a small “I never wrote a note.”
Shisui nodded, inwardly slapping himself for how it sounded. He didn’t mean to sound like he was accusing Mikoto.
“I know,” he agreed, just to be safe. “But I managed to obtain it, and it was in your handwriting.”
Itachi’s own eyes flared, and the next thing he knew, his cousin was right in front of him with his hand outstretched.
Shisui didn’t hesitate to give him the slightly crumpled paper.
The paper, which upon viewing, held the Uchiha crest on it. From as far as he could tell, the paper was definitely the ones Uchiha used.
Itachi seemed to come to the same conclusion. His eyes lifted towards his mother’s horrified ones. Oh yeah, she definitely didn’t know about the note then.
“He’s right. If I didn’t know it was fake, I’d believe it was from you as well.”
Well, that summed that up. Shisui once again made eye contract with Fugaku, making sure the point was craftier across.
Talking out loud, he spoke the damnation and reality about his youngest. “Whoever did this was prepared. They had plans in motion in order to delay the search, and went after Sasuke specifically. They also had power to either hire or order a hand writing expert in order to impersonate Mikoto.”
The silence that followed was full of contemplation.
“But all the other missing cases were mostly of civilians, or lower class Shinobi. So why would they suddenly go for someone as well known and important as Sasuke?” Shisui couldn’t help but ponder out loud now. Not when this many revelations could finally lead to something.
Mikoto gasped sharply, her hand clenching at her side. He dully noticed that she was shaking.
“I swear, if that son-of-a-bitch used my son as an example to threaten or undermine us, I’m going to slaughter them.” The unfiltered anger and pain was clear in her voice.
And as much as he wanted to deny it, wanted to throw up in disgust by it, he couldn’t rule out that possibility.
That this was done in order to slight the Uchiha. To humiliate, threaten, to taunt and anger Sharingan users.
Amaterasu, it was working.
“Shisui.”
It took him a moment to realise Itachi was talking to him. Looking at the boy his considered a young brother, he couldn’t help but feel his heart ache more. The pain he was feeling was pronounced nothing in comparison.
Nodding his head in attention, and as a way to signal continue, Shisui instinctually braced himself for whatever Itachi was going to ask.
“Who do you think did it?”
…And there was the million dollar question.
Sure Shisui had his suspicions, but did he really want to share them? He loved his clan, he did, but was he really willing to betray the village for them? To no doubt further the coup along?
He had wanted peace. Yet he knew no matter the genjustu now, he would have to pick a side.
Nothing peaceful would work now. Not after Sasuke.
He sighed in defeat. He knew that Itachi had an idea. And the fact that he was asking in front of his parents meant that he had picked his side. Sailing with the village beforehand had meant to protect his younger brother. And well, look how that turned out.
“Truthfully, I have a strong…guess on who might be responsible.” He had everyone’s full attention now.
“Well!?” Fugaku prodded along viciously. Shisui didn’t let the tone affect him, he knew that Fugaku got impatient when he was desperate.
“Danzo Shimura has been unusually interested in my eyes lately.” He let that single sentence sink in, let the idea fill the room before he continued.
“I think he’s always been fascinated by the sharingan, and he has immense political power and control over ROOT that could very easily kidnap and cover up the disappearances of children.”
There was a direct silence after that. The connections taking place, unusual things starting to make sense. The disbelief of having their superior betray them to that degree.
The degree of taking innocent children and murdering them.
Shisui knew now, without a doubt. The coup would go ahead. Would be planned with more vigour.
What that would mean for the village, well, with the vulnerability sure to come, there’s no way the other hidden villages wouldn’t take advantage.
He wondered if he felt something akin to regret right now.
Oh well, too late now.
Taking a deep breath, he carefully explained it. Carefully, so that they would not deem him a traitor for working for Danzo. For indirectly helping him.
Jeez, even in his own mind, he was a coward.
Afterwards, he was looking at three murderous Uchiha of the main family who were screaming for blood. Thankfully, they all seemed to trust him.
He wasn’t sure if that made him feel relieved or guilty.
They all stood in silence, still in the Naka Shrine. Still next the the cold body of their beloved son, brother and cousin.
He…hoped that Sasuke would forgive him. For discussing such things at his funeral.
Hesitantly, he walking a few steps forward to his mini cousin and gently reached out to pat his head for the last time.
“”I’m sorry.”