if

chapter fourteen

"All of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on."

- Havelock Ellis

<>

"I think it's time to go." Sasuke said, shifting his backpack from one shoulder to the other. Naruto nodded, and opened the door further, so Sasuke could come in. He was ready to go as well, because today was the day they'd decided on. He hadn't known when Sasuke would come, just that he would. Naruto didn't question Sasuke's timing. Sure, it was four a.m., but Sasuke had gotten it into his head that time was a construct, theoretically he could change his sleep schedule however he wanted and it would effect nothing as long as he got a minimum of five hours of sleep per day. In other words, no matter what time of day it was, Sasuke was ready to roll. If Sasuke was ready to do anything at any time, the team had better be ready too.

Naruto rubbed his eyes sleepily, then brought a finger to his mouth to symbolize absolute silence from Sasuke.

Mom and Dad are sleeping, and they sleep extremely lightly. Especially Dad. Probably comes with being Hokage along with having been in a war.

Fine.

The two of them said nothing. Naruto had already packed, he just had to get dressed. Sasuke busied himself with cleaning up some of the mess Naruto left in the living room while waiting for Sasuke. His friend changed into his traveling clothes in his room while Sasuke did this. Sasuke looked around the room, after he'd taken Naruto's glass that was still half full of not-spoiled milk to the sink and washed it as quietly as he could. He'd been in that house multiple times. It was a far cry from Naruto's old childhood house. This one was homey, it had pictures on the walls. It had curtains. Carpet. personality. It was lovely. Probably Aunt Kushina's fault.

Miraculously, no one had woken up yet, so Sasuke maneuvered his way over to the couch, sitting on it. He removed his backpack to sit better, and leaned his head back so his neck was resting on the soft fabric. He'd thought out this plan multiple times, and in multiple ways. He'd even sent Kakashi out to complete his side of the plan before he came to get Naruto. It would work. However, this time, Itachi would notice he was missing immediately.

Itachi had trained over the past months since Sasuke nearly died at the waterfall. So much, in fact, that he was fourteen years old, and probably more powerful than his eighteen year old self was in the old timeline. He learned how to use his Mangekyo with some of the best, Uchiha Shisui, Fugaku, and even Kakashi taught him. He knew how to successfully conserve energy, how to use the Mangekyo at brief intervals during a fight. He improved his entire fighting style (yes, the style that had previously been practically perfect), and pushed himself to his limits every time. He was better than ever. Kicking ass and taking names.

Sasuke's plan has worked out much better than he'd expected. Sasuke wondered if one day Itachi might surpass him. Then he raised an eyebrow. Doubtful. I'd like to see Itachi get a Rinnegan or Eternal Mangekyo. He's too nice to take someone else's eyes, especially not mine. He rolled his eyes at himself. Everything was a competition with Sasuke, and sometimes it disgusted even himself.

The point of that whole tirade was, when Itachi noticed him this time, Sakura would be sent in to do damage control. The girl would give Itachi a brief, utterly incorrect explanation as to why Sasuke had disappeared again, and Itachi would (hopefully) buy it and leave the clone alone again. Sasuke knew the chances of that were slim, but that (thankfully) wasn't going to be his problem for a couple of days.