Team Harmony

P14: Emotions

The next morning when Itachi was waiting for Sasuke to get ready for school, his father called him into his office.

"Itachi," his father began before pausing. "A letter was found in Shisui's house earlier this morning when a clan member noticed his front door wide open."

Itachi's eyes narrowed in confusion and he tilted his head. "Is Shisui okay?" He asked, pushing down the emotions once again.

Fugaku let out a long sigh. "I'm afraid he's killed himself. We've had members canvassing the area, but we haven't found his body yet."

"Killed himself? That's impossible. Shisui wouldn't do anything like that..." Itachi insisted.

"Yes, I believe that as well, which is why we've opened an investigation. You spend the most time with him; did you see him at all yesterday?"

"Yes, I was with him in the evening, just after he returned from his mission, but he seemed fine. He was just...Shisui," he answered. He knew it wouldn't do good to lie about his whereabouts, especially since the clan was aware of how often they spent time together.

"I didn't know he finished his mission earlier than expected. He normally comes to see me after he gives his report to the Hokage," Fugaku said, mostly thinking to himself.

"He looked tired when we saw one another so we didn't spend much time together," Itachi added. "He returned home just before sunset and I spent the next hour or so training before returning home myself. I walked past his house as well and nothing looked out of the ordinary.

Fugaku hummed. "I see. I'm going to see the Hokage about this here in a bit. Take Sasuke to school and don't let him know until we've recovered his body and confirmed his death."

Itachi bowed his head. "Yes, father. I will return soon. Would you like me to accompany you to this meeting?" He asked.

"No, I'll be doing this on my own. Stay here with your mother in case they locate him," his father replied. Itachi bowed again and left his father's office with his heart beginning to hammer in his chest. He took a deep breath as he walked outside to where Sasuke was waiting and calmed himself down.

Everything was going as well as he expected it to. While he was stuck here at home, he needed to find a way to get an audience with the Hokage without alerting the masked man he knew was watching him as well as Danzo—that's who he was most concerned about. He could try to corner him as he did to Shisui, and that would mean Shisui would've died for nothing if Itachi was overpowered.

On the other hand, if he took care of Danzo. If he finished what Shisui started, the village and his clan would be saved. He knew it was only a matter of time before Danzo made his move, and now that he was in possession of Shisui's sharingan the trouble he made was going to be disastrous.

"Good morning, Sasuke, Itachi-san," Hinata said as they approached the gate of the Hyuuga compound where Hinata and her cousin Neji were waiting.

Sasuke smiled easily at her. "Morning! Itachi said he was gonna be walking with us to and from school!" He told her. Itachi felt the ache in his chest lessen when she lit up with happiness. The kids in front of him were so innocent and clueless as to what was going on behind the scenes that he felt it was possible to escape his reality, even for a brief walk to their school.

"Really? I'm so happy to hear that!" Hinata said, smiling up at Itachi.

"Hinata-sama, we need to get going now," Neji said from beside her.

"Yes," she said. "Let's get going."

Itachi and Neji walked in silence as they listened to Sasuke and Hinata discuss different topics from school to training to what they should do after training in the evening. It was refreshing and Itachi felt extremely guilty knowing that he was going to be telling them awful news after school.