— This is a waste of time. Why do we all have to go out shopping? I could be training with niisan right now.
Sasuke's resentful expression only made both Izumi and Mikoto burst out laughing.
Even more offended, the boy turned to look at his older brother, who was walking alongside their father a couple of steps behind them.
Feeling his younger brother's gaze, Itachi's stern face turned to face him. Immediately, his stern expression softened into a measured smile.
Seeing that, Sasuke's sullen face brightened again.
It wasn't all that bad. At least he was still with his nii-san.
Trying not to focus on Fugaku's stern face, Sasuke slowed his pace to walk alongside the pair of silent men.
Just as the head of the Uchiha clan was about to scold his youngest son to go back to his mother—and leave him alone with his eldest son once more—the subtle movement of a few people in the crowd diverted his attention.
Itachi also noticed those shadowy figures, but paid them no mind. Instead, he focused on the military police officers carrying out their duties and apprehending a civilian several streets away.
The crimson glow of the Sharingan as it finished subduing the man through the use of violence was as clear to Itachi as the wary glances and whispers of the villagers around him.
Fugaku was looking in the same direction, but his attention was not on his clan members, but on the civilians polluting the air with their indiscreet whispers, which everyone could hear.
Soon, the outrage grew, and the voices ceased to be mere murmurs; however, the menacing glint in the Sharingan of the Uchiha members silenced them completely.
Silence settled once more, at least until Indra's descendants took the detainee and disappeared around a corner, heading toward the military police headquarters.
Immediately, the voices rose once again.
Although the coldness in their eyes was similar, both father and son were focused on completely different things as they watched the fiasco unfolding more than a hundred meters away from where they stood.
— Oh! It's Sarada!
The mere mention of that name caused Fugaku's furrowed brow to deepen even further.
— Where?
— Over there, in the park. It looks like she's with a boy.
— Oh!
Mikoto's words, along with Izumi's exclamation, caused even the indifferent Sasuke to widen his eyes slightly to get a better look. However, having not yet awakened his Sharingan, there was little he could do to see in detail a spot hundreds of meters away.
— That girl, when she left, said she was going to be with her friends, but now…
Instead of continuing to listen to the trivial chatter of the two women, the leader of the Uchiha clan decided to speak up and question his eldest son.
— The surveillance has been way too intrusive lately, don't you think? How long do you think the higher-ups plan to keep this up?
Although his words were subtle, Itachi clearly understood what his father meant.
— You can't really call it "surveillance." They're just trying to figure out the reason behind the growing tension between the clan and the village. Once the hard feelings are put aside, everything will go back to normal.
— …
— …
— The way you defend them makes me wonder if your heart lies with them or with the clan.
Itachi's lack of response only made Fugaku feel even more bitter.
— If it weren't for them insisting on making things worse with tricks like the ones before, then…
— Fugaku. Why don't we go see Sarada?
His wife's gentle voice cut off the Uchiha leader's words mid-sentence.
This wasn't the place, he chided himself inwardly, before responding with a nod to Mikoto.
Itachi watched his father's weary profile with his usual detachment. Although he could understand and even empathize with the man's concerns, in the end—even before Shisui's death—he had already chosen his side.
Instead of running headlong into the wall that was the Uchiha clan leader, Itachi noticed the girl with glasses sitting on the park lawn, before turning his attention to his younger brother walking beside him.
— It's been more than six months since you started at the academy. How are Sarada and you doing?
Despite the awkwardness and discomfort of the question, the smile on Sasuke's face widened, though his classmate's—in his opinion, unnecessary—remark prevented that smile from blooming to its fullest.
— No problem. School is way too easy. And as for her… I guess she's doing just fine, too.
The hesitation at the end was inevitable.
The younger of the brothers had never paid Sarada any particular attention.
It was enough for him to be better than her so that she could never stand out more in Itachi's eyes.
— I see. What about making friends? Do you both get along with your classmates?
Despite his good mood, Sasuke's smile was tainted with a hint of annoyance.
Get along with his classmates?
The face of the loud, always confrontational blond—along with the crowd of hangers-on who were always trying to flatter or please him—came to mind.
— O-okay. The others are… interesting, so we don't get along badly.
It was obvious to Itachi that his little brother wasn't being sincere, but even though Sasuke's antisocial behavior also worried him, this wasn't the right time to press the issue.
After all, his rigid questions hadn't been asked to better understand his younger brother.
— I see. What about Sarada? I recently heard she made a new friend.
Fugaku's expression darkened even further, and even Mikoto's elegant gait faltered for a moment.
Although at that moment the Uchiha patriarch wanted nothing more than to glare at his wife's back, in the end he was unable to harbor any resentment toward her.
However, his frustration over the military police's increasing harassment, the increasingly brazen surveillance, and the fact that now even his son was putting on this kind of show in front of everyone had nowhere to be vented.
Itachi noticed all of this.
After all, despite his apparent focus on his little brother, he was attentive to every tiny detail in his surroundings.
— Hmph. Natsuki Uzumaki.
Sasuke's snort seemed to express the full extent of his disgust toward the girl bearing that name.
Her loud brother, her subsequent victory over the Hyuga who dared to humiliate him, her constant evasions when it came to accepting the challenges he'd issued her, and above all…
— Although she's not as annoying as the others, she's way too pretentious. She always seems to be looking down on everyone.
— So, what do you think about the fact that they became friends so suddenly?
Sasuke's growing discontent—the result of having to listen to his nii-san talk about another girl so much—was completely overlooked. To Itachi, the slight tension in Mikoto's shoulders was far more significant.
— Hmph. I don't know. They're both equally annoying, so…
Sasuke's thoughtless response came to a halt as soon as frustration made him look away from his beloved nii-san and he met Izumi's curious gaze.
— I-I… what I mean is that they're… Well, they both fit in pretty well, so it's no surprise.
No matter how much he mulled it over in his head, in the end, that was the best he could come up with.
Although he didn't particularly care for Izumi either—since she also took up some of his older brother's attention—he understood that she was important to him.
Izumi, upon seeing the nervous Sasuke, couldn't help but let out a little laugh before joining the conversation.
— It's okay. They're still kids. It's better for them to handle their own relationships, isn't it?
Although Itachi wanted to press the issue further, as soon as he met Izumi's warm smile, his words got stuck in his throat.
— You're right.
What else could he say?
What was the point of continuing to question his naive and clueless younger brother?
He'd already achieved his goal. He'd made himself heard, seen his parents' reactions, and, above all, confirmed whether Sarada's recent actions were connected to some kind of plot involving one of the Nine-Tailed Jinchūriki.
It was better to set his responsibilities aside for a bit, now that he'd done his part, and enjoy some time with his family.
At least now that he was able to do so.
Soon, the Uchihas arrived in the vicinity.
Still overwhelmed by the previous atmosphere, Mikoto didn't hesitate to step forward and speak up.
— Sarada.
— Mikoto-nee.
…
Yashin couldn't help but flinch.
Seeing a brat call a MILF in her late 30s "nee" was too much even for him, no matter how young and attractive that woman might seem.
Even so, the pink-haired couldn't help but take a second and third look at her, ignoring the rest of the pack members accompanying the Yamato Nadeshiko.
— Sarada, it's not just your Mikoto-nee who's here, you know?
The little brat, who had stood up to run into the mature woman's arms, immediately shifted her focus upon hearing the new voice.
— Of course I know that, Izumi-neechan.
The girl's awkward laugh was cut short by a light tap on her forehead from the young Uchiha.
— What are you waiting for? Greet everyone properly.
Immediately, Sarada stopped acting like a spoiled child and bowed to greet everyone properly.
Unlike the men's lukewarm or reserved responses, Mikoto immediately pulled the little brat into her embrace.
— You're still just a little girl. You don't need to be so formal with us.
Uninterested in the women's childish banter, Yashin stood up to take a closer look at the people gathered right in front of him.
The Uchiha's dark eyes immediately locked onto him, but the Haruno didn't flinch in the slightest.
Instead, his dark green eyes and slightly crooked smile made everyone feel uncomfortable.
Izumi—the only one, along with Sarada, who didn't seem to catch the pink-haired's eye—didn't notice the nauseating atmosphere he was giving off, so she continued speaking without a second thought.
— Didn't you say you were going out with your friends? Or did you…?
— I didn't lie. I went out with Ino and Sakura, it's just that the vibe between them has gotten too… and I just…
— So, did you leave them alone to come meet him?
Izumi's mischievous glance directed at Yashin finally made the pink-haired look away from the walking corpses that were, to him, the Uchiha patriarch's family.
— Of course not. I was with Natsuki, and I only stayed with Yashin because he looked sick. I was just about to go home.
— Oh… so his name is Yashin, huh?
Izumi's teasing tone only made Sarada blush even more.
It was bad enough that everyone had seen her with someone like Yashin, and now her older sister was trying to make things even more complicated.
— You're Sakura's brother, right? I've heard a lot about you.
Before the pink-haired could answer, an unexpected Itachi Uchiha stepped forward to stand protectively near Izumi.
Seeing this, Yashin's smile widened slightly.
— Itachi Uchiha, right?
With Sasuke already in school and the village's segregation of the Uchiha becoming increasingly blatant, Yashin was surprised that the future parricide still had time to go on family outings—and even more so that he cared enough about an insignificant Izumi Uchiha to actually show apprehension toward him.
Perhaps the simple mental patient who'd been thinking like a Hokage ever since he was in his father's nuts was more complex than he'd initially thought.
However, even though this was the first time he'd met him, based on the mere caution the man showed toward him, the pink-haired was still certain that the guy obsessed with his younger brother would eventually set out on the path to massacring his clan.
After all, despite the contempt Yashin might feel for Danzo, he still had confidence in his methods and those of ROOT.
— I thought the Uchiha genius would have a more imposing presence, but it seems I expected too much.
The pink-haired felt like an exhibitionist pulling out his member in front of the perfect family portrayed on television.
If it weren't for his age, he might even have enjoyed an orgasm.
Even so, realizing that the Itachi he'd known was so disappointing greatly dampened his ecstasy.
For someone determined to massacre his family, he should be more… intense.
When the day comes that he stands before him to take his life, if he finds someone so weak, he's sure to end up disappointed.
That's why giving him a little nudge wouldn't be a bad idea, right?
— You even seem a little off. You'd better not let up, hothead. It would be a shame if, when the time comes for us to cross paths, I end up disappointed and have to take measures to motivate you myself.
By the time he finished speaking, Yashin's eyes were no longer fixed on Itachi, but on the dazed Sasuke, who had unconsciously hidden behind his father's leg.
He didn't face the disappointing Uchiha again.
He didn't need to, since the Uchiha's murderous intent eclipsed even Fugaku's.
Regretting the limited effect of his trick—which had kept the entire family silent—the pink-haired turned on his heel and walked away from that place.
— I've heard that snake venom is good for treating rare diseases, but even if it doesn't work, Konoha has plenty of traveling doctors who can handle that sort of thing.
Without another word, he began to walk.
It was time to go find his personal taxi.
Since his niece had said she'd met up with her, and considering the direction he'd come from with Natsuki, Yashin already had a hunch where his little sister might be.