A few days passed and most things remained the same; Sarada was training with her team - sometimes, Sasuke was there to watch her - and some time later, Konohamaru was discharged from the hospital and they were sent to a mission which lasted for two days.
Sasuke would also pick up Sakura from work every night and the whole Uchiha family would have a peaceful and satisfying dinner together.
Getting back to what Chocho said, the Chunin exams were near, but even before Sarada could prepare for it, the teachers from the Academy had announced it right after Team Konohamaru went back to the village. They stated that it was close, but unfortunately did not give the exact date of the event.
Most genin-ranked ninjas were thrilled while others were anxious and scared. Sarada and her two teammates were naturally quite competitive so they belonged to the ones who were excited.
Today, however, instead of heavy training and preparations for the nearing exams, Sarada spent the day strolling around the village with Chocho. Well, it can't be helped. The two of them are good friends - even though one is hard to motivate and the other is hardworking - and they are quite fond of each other in spite of those differences.
On the same day, dark clouds started to form and their 'girl time' unfortunately ended early because of the incoming rain. Instead of spending the rest of the afternoon with one another, Sarada was forced to come home and the same went for the young Akimichi.
She loved home in a better way because Sasuke was finally in it, but today, she wasn't that enthusiastic about going back because her father was currently in the Hokage's office (if she wasn't mistaken) and was discussing some serious matters with him.
However, when Sarada got back, she heard a very few, almost inaudible noises from a certain room. In instinct, she gripped her fingers tightly around a sharp kunai. She knew exactly where the sound came from, but she wasn't sure why it came there.
Sarada, for one, was a brave girl. However, instances such as this somewhat scared her, of course, as she was still a kid. But that wasn't a reason to stop from putting up a brave front and confronting the person who's trespassing.
So she slowly and cautiously went to the direction where the faint noises came from. In the end, she was facing the door of the isolated room in their house. It was the single room in the Uchiha household that she had never explored. She was dying of curiosity about it, but Sakura never allowed her to go there. She was confused, but gradually after graduating from the Academy, she lost interest with this certain room.
And now, why was the intruder inside it?
Slowly, without making noises, she twisted the knob until she saw a light coming from the inside. Sarada frowned upon realizing that the room was poorly lit and she could only spot the silhouette of that person.
Breathing in, she gripped the knob before swiftly opening it and jumping inside, taking ninja weapons such as shuriken and kunai from her pouch and throwing them to the person without taking a closer look.
Sarada's feet made contact with the ground again and she immediately froze when she saw who the person was.
"Papa?"
Sasuke was sitting on the floor, a small chabudai table in front of him, a few candles over it, a bundle of flowers, and a picture frame. Attached to the walls were the shuriken and kunai she previously launched at him.
"Sarada," he said in his usual low voice, taking a side glance at the weapons. "What are you doing here?"
"I..." The young Uchiha was still speechless. She thought there was some freaky bandit inside their house who's stealing something precious from this mysterious room. But after looking at the entirety of this four-cornered room, there isn't anything special.
Just a normal Japanese-fashioned space. The only furniture was the table and the only things were the candles, the flowers, the photo.
"I'm sorry, Papa... I didn't-"
"No need for apologies," he cut her off. "It's better that you know proper defense."
"Yeah, but Mom's going to kill me for messing up the walls."
Sasuke shook his head. "I'll take care of your mother. That, too." He gestured to the wall.
He gazed at the ninja weapons tightly pinned on the walls. Does he even need to train Sarada while he's in the village? It seems unnecessary.
Sasuke knew that she was still a child. She can sometimes feel lost but she was steadily improving as an individual and not just a shinobi. She was learning and he believes that she will learn everything on her own even without his help. She can stand on her own. But if there will be a time she needs him, he'll be more than happy to obliged.
"What's... what's this?"
Sasuke took a side glance to the table before tapping the space beside him. "Come here."
The young Uchiha walked slowly towards her father, onyx eyes fixated only on the photograph. The candles illuminated the picture perfectly, giving her a good view of the person in it, and she immediately realized that it was a boy wearing ANBU clothes.
Sitting, a slight frown creased her forehead. Even without Sasuke uttering any details, she mentally gasp in surprise upon noticing the striking resemblance between her father and the man in the photo.
"Who..." she mumbled under her breath, eyes scanning the fresh flowers surrounding the frame and the candles which were slowly decreasing in height.
He looks just like him. It didn't take a genius to observe that. The same raven hair, pitch black onyx eyes, face shape and intimidating aura. Even his fair skin. He had it all. He had those traits that Sasuke has.
"Who is..." Sarada swallowed, glancing at Sasuke. "...he?"
Sasuke kept his gaze on the photo. The young female averted her eyes back to the unfamiliar man, studying his clothes intently. As she observed earlier, it was certainly that of the ANBU's; his mask was in his hands and his hair was pulled back into a ponytail.
Sarada remembered that time when she asked Sakura about their clansmen's whereabouts. She only replied by saying that there were no other Uchiha in the village. She also remembered that time when she tagged along with the Seventh to find Sasuke, where she met someone known as Shin Uchiha, a person possessing the same dojutsu as her. It turns out that Shin was only an experiment.
But... who was this man? He's part of the ANBU, isn't he? She has never seen him. Even once. Not even in her childhood. And judging by the flowers and candles, he's...
"Uchiha Itachi," Sarada felt a chill creeping in her skin when Sasuke spoke up. "My brother."
Sarada could only stare at the man - or Itachi, based on what her father said - until his words sank inside her head. Her mouth slightly opened in surprise. Sasuke had a brother? She never knew and she didn't even know that he was part of the ANBU team!
"Brother..." she echoed quietly. "Then... he's my... uncle."
Sasuke nodded his head, taking another candle and lighting it. Sarada pressed her lips together to stop them from trembling. She didn't know why, but her entire system was shaken up upon this sudden revelation. Her heart was hammering against her chest and her eyes were slowly brimming with tears.
Itachi was dead, she knew based on the obvious set up - the flowers, the picture, the candles. And thinking about how her father felt about this pierced her heart. Just thinking about Sasuke going through pain was shaking her heart.
Noticing this surge of emotion, Sasuke placed a gentle hand on her shoulder to calm her nerves. "Sarada."
The young Uchiha fixed her glasses. "Sorry, Papa-"
"Don't apologize," he shook his head. "And you're probably confused right now."
She sighed, closing her eyes for a split second. "I am but you don't have to explain. That's too much."
She knew that even though her father showed limited expressions, he was still human; he feels and like any other human being in this world, there are people precious to him and Itachi was probably one of those. They're brothers, and if wasn't important, then Sasuke wouldn't even be in front of his photo right now.
"It's been years," Sasuke peeled his hand off her. "Long years, if I may add. I can tell you because you deserve to know."
Usually, Sasuke didn't share a lot of things - private details or not, he just wasn't the type to converse. And now he was suggesting to tell the life of Itachi, his brother.
"Are you sure?" She questioned softly.
Sasuke threw her a side glance before opening his mouth to speak. "Between Itachi and I, he stood out a lot more. He made better decisions." He stated, a wave of nostalgia hitting his mind. "He has always been logical and strong. He despised war and blood."
Sarada listened silently to him. He despised war? Historically, there are four shinobi world wars. Did Itachi take part in them? Did he die in battle?
"He protected Konoha in the shadows and died a proud shinobi from this village," Sasuke continued, staring deeply into Itachi's old photo, which Sakura found from the old ANBU profiles. "He's the emodiment of what a true shinobi is. The one who endures to save the future."
A true shinobi...
Sarada glanced to Itachi's photo again. Something warmed her heart. So that's how he was? He saved and protected the village? That's... amazing. Truly admirable. Whatever the cause of his death is, she didn't want to dig deeper. Digging deeper means bringing out more memories. And death is painful. She wouldn't want Sasuke talking about it.
"He's cool, isn't he?" She smiled. "I would have loved to meet him."
Sasuke turned to look at Sarada. His features automatically softened. Itachi would have loved knowing that his brother was capable of loving after all the heavy hatred he carried. He would have loved to see Sasuke and Sakura's marriage. He would have loved to meet you too, Sarada.
"Can I ask you something, Papa?"
"What is it?"
Sarada cleared her throat. "Where's his grave? Maybe I can drop some flowers for him tomorrow."
Sasuke fell silent for a bit. His battle with Itachi flashed inside his head, as well as that certain time inside the cave after the fight with Kabuto.
He lifted his hands and poked Sarada's forehead gently. "We'll talk more later."
. . .
When evening came, the usual family dinner happened. Sarada didn't bring up anything about Itachi at all. However, there is a question that has been lurking inside her mind ever since the big revelation happened.
While Sasuke was taking a night shower, Sakura cleaned up the dishes. Sarada, like always, would have helped Sakura or wash herself for bed, but this time, she decided to stay in the kitchen with her mother.
She was sitting on one of the stools while the pinkette washed the plates carefully on the sink. Her gaze fell on her back as she pressed her lips together.
"Is something bothering you, Sarada?"
The young Uchiha was taken aback. Even without turning, Sakura knew that she's been staring at her for who knows how long, and is not completely oblivious to her uneasiness.
"Um, well," she faked a cough, standing up from her seat to get closer to the pinkette. "I came home early today and..."
Noticing her long pause, Sakura threw her a side glance. "And?"
"And... I found Papa in the 'off-limits' room."
Sakura stiffened for a second but quickly regained her composure and smiled faintly. "So you..."
Sarada nodded. "I found out about Itachi Uchiha- I mean, Itachi oji-san."
The pink headed woman took a deep breath, washing her hands to remove the soap. "I see." She uttered silently. "I hope he could join us right now."
Sarada's eyes lowered. "I know now why you kept me off that room for so long," she spoke. "But I don't understand. Mom, I... I don't want to probe too much but why have you never told me about Itachi oji-san?"
Confusion was evident in the young Uchiha's eyes as she stared at her mother, looking for answers. Eyebrows down and hands behind her back, she waited for her reply.
But none came.
"Isn't he family? Isn't he an Uchiha? He's gone, I know, but I wish you could have told me that I have an uncle." Sarada didn't exactly understand why she was getting upset, but somehow she just felt disappointed and distant because Sakura has been with her for a long time but never mentioned anything about Itachi.
He was a good guy, there was nothing to hide, so why didn't introduce him?
Sakura slowly faced her and gave her a small, apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, dear. You were too young back then."
"Mom..." Sarada frowned, but quickly shook her head. "I just... sorry. I'm sorry. I just felt like we never really tell things. I feel like you're being too... secretive..."
"I am?" Sakura placed a hand over her head and flashed an eye smile. "Sorry. Then starting today, we'll be more open to each other, okay?"
. . .
A/N;
I hope you enjoyed the feels (if u call that feels). I love Itachi and I know you do too •/_\•
Anyway~ I hope everybody is okay! Please leave a comment/constructive criticsm :)
P.S. look out for the next update, it's gonna be exciting!