another Chance

#54

Itachi stared at the backyard that he had been staring at for the past hour and a half, he couldn't  concentrate on anything and the daily routine seemed duller than usual. The other three ninjas from his brother's squad had already arrived and reported to the hokage, then they had come to visit him and brought him a lot of books and a few other small decoration and stuff as a suvonier from their month long mission, although he couldn't see them at this moment he still accepted them as they were presents from sasuke's  friends. He wanted to ask about Sasuke and so he did but all he got was their silence for an answer. The girl Karin  seemed to be feeling a little bad for him or maybe she felt that she should explain to him so she said in an apologetic tone " we really cannot answer this question for you but we can still answer any other questions that you may have". Itachi was disappointed that he could not get anything from them even after changing his words or asking in roundabout ways.  It made him feel frustrated in the end he said he was not feeling well and sent the guests out.

The sound of cicadas accompanied him as he sat in the back porch of the house, 'looking' at the  tree and feeling the gentle breeze, he held a small toy in his hand. He had asked Naruto to help him buy this when they had gone out for a walk a few days ago. They had stopped by at a shop that Itachi was familiar with. It was on a whim that he wanted to visit in that familiar street in konoha from his memory wondering how much the village must have changed, but the street was still the same and the shop was still the same , only the shop keeper had changed. Itachi and Naruto had looked around the shop, mainly Naruto excitedly bouncing around and telling him what was on display. In the end Itachi felt that he should buy something before leaving, so he chose a small and soft plushy cat doll. Now that he held it in his hand in a daze, he remembered when little Sasuke had put on cat ear hairband once when they were little. He looked so adorable and cute back then....as he was reminiscing the fond memories, he felt something. He snapped out of his dazed trance and strained on his ears to listen carefully, a slithering sound, something heavy dragging itself against the ground..... something....snake? .... Itachi became alert quickly placing his hand in his sleeve ready to pull out a kunai if necessary.  "Are you related to lord Sasuke?" He heard a voice asking. He nodded still alert as he faced inthe general direction of the voice. " I am lord sasuke's summoned beast, my name is Aoda. " Itachi relaxed as he heard the voice introduce itself, but he was still not relaxed, just as he was about to ask his purpose prof Sasuke had sent him any message, he felt the change in  surrounding air and with a slight swish sound he felt the snake lowering his head and then continue saying " lord Sasuke seemed to be in pain could you help him...." Before Aoda could complete his sentence Itachi had already taken action and taken Sasuke away from his head, his voice was filled with worry as he asked "Sasuke? Can you hear me?" All he got in reply wasa painful and muffled groan . Itachi hugged Sasuke and summoned a crow, instructing it to get the three from sasuke's squad and also get sakura. Although his eyes were still covered in gauge he could now use his chakra just fine, the seal had already been lifted by lady Tsunade half a month ago. The crow flew away to follow the instructions and Aoda still stayed in the yard keeping an eye on his master and the person in the court yard .
"You were with him....what happened to my ototou?" He asked Aoda. Aoda just stayed still  and flicked his forked tongue out as he contemplated wether he should answer or not. The silence made Itachi impatient he turned in the general direction of Aoda, his face was stoic and his tone grew cold " I asked what happened to him?" He repeated the question this time Aoda answered " I am not aware of how much you know and how much I can tell you. Lord Sasuke is alright, he is just tired and has overdrawn his chakra....some rest should help him recover well" after saying his peice Aoda left in a puff of smoke .
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When karin, suigetsu and juugo rushed to sasuke's house they saw Itachi holding Sasuke in his arms and stroking his soft black locks in a very gentle and soothing manner and Sasuke seemed to be sleeping. The scene made them numb and the weird and awkward feeling from before came back.
Itachi aware of the presence of others in the room lifted his head, the gentle and worried expression turning cold as soon as he lifted his head. He asked in a cold voice " what happened?" . Only two words were asked so coldly that it made karin shiver. Suigetsu was not very affected by the older Uchiha's cold tone and juugo felt guilty about not being able to answer him so he kept his complicated gaze trained on the floor.
Seeing his face getting colder, karin could only bite the bullet coming forward and saying ,"He....Sasuke he has been over working himself and if this goes on he's going to seriously harm himself" after blurring out whatever came to her mouth first karin silently gazed at the two Uchihas on the sofa one coldly inquiring them and other sleeping so carelessly not aware of his surroundings. Suigetsu got impatient  and a little suffocated staying here in this atmosphere .