Sarada woke up and hissed, rubbing her sore arms. She had failed. She would be upset...

Suddenly she had a sword inches away from her face and kunai aimed at her from all sides. "Who are you, and where is the real Sarada?" An unfriendly voice hissed. Sarada recognised it as Sasuke Uchiha, the man she called father, so Sarada was supposed to as well.

"Papa?" She asked wearily, acting as if she was her counterpart. "What's going on?"

"Don't lie to me." The angry Uchiha narrowed his eyes. "Where is my daughter? You're her clone. Where is she?"

Sarada made her eyes widen, and forced tears into her eyes. "Papa, you're scaring me."

Sasuke's Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan took the place of his normal onyx one. "Tell me. Now."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" She made her voice quiver, trying to make her act more convincing. "Papa, what is wrong with you?!"

"Sasuke, you're scaring her." Sakura came over, sat on the bed beside Sarada, and glared at her.

Haruno Sakura. Her mom. Sarada's mom. Sarada had to act like everything was normal, like she was the Sarada they wanted.

Hah.

"Mama? Please, tell me what's going on!" Sarada exclaimed, hugging her 'mother'.

Sakura sat stoically as the girl hugged her tightly. "Sarada," She said finally, prying the girl's arms off of her. "You have to answer Sasuke's questions. Do you understand me?"

"Mama, what do you mean?" Sarada cried, in a last, desperate, attempt to keep her cover. She scooted into the corner of the bed and put a convincing desperate look on her face.

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "I don't think you understand, Sarada-clone. This is my daughter I'm talking about. I'm willing to interrogate you harshly to find out what happened to her."

Sarada-clone's eyes widened, then her eyebrows raised. Realizing that there was no way to salvage this, she sighed and leaned back on the bed frame. "Alright. What is it you want to know?"

"Where is Sarada?" Sasuke asked immediately, sheathing his sword, but the people from the future, Shisui, and Itachi kept their kunai trained on the Sarada imposter.

"Somewhere safe. Well, from the outside. I'm not sure what's happening inside. I just receive my orders and carry them out." The clone shrugged.

"When did you and Sarada swap out?" Shisui spoke up. Everyone in the room became quiet. They'd all had personal experiences with Sarada, and knowing everything-- it was all a wood clone playing them would be tough to deal with.

"I'm quite sure it was a few days ago." Sarada-clone nodded decisively. "During your Akatsuki escape? You were talking to me off and on. Sometimes we would swap in and out to keep things normal and realistic, then she'd go back."

"She'd go back?" Itachi asked, surprised. Sarada wasn't a traitor, so she must have been brainwashed or something. "Willingly?"

The clone started giggling. It was freaky because it sounded exactly like Sarada. She giggled harder until it turned into straight up mad laughing.

"The wood clone idea was hers." The clone choked out helpfully in between her laughter, causing many gasps to ring out in the room. Including outraged shouts from Boruto and Mitsuki, who were outside listening in because they wouldn't let them in. "She orchestrated this whole thing so she could get away from you guys."

"She what?" Naruto asked, glancing over at Sasuke. It hit him hard. So hard, the Uchiha had to sit down. Sakura joined him, grabbing his hand.

"Sarada Uchiha. That's where my orders came from." The wood clone repeated. "It is said that Sarada Uchiha had joined Madara Uchiha on their quest for peace."

Sasuke ran a hand through his hair. "Why..." he mumbled. "Why would she do that? Go so far... just to get away from us. I mean, Madara. She's heard of him, right Sakura?"

"Yes," Sakura replied. "Many times. I've told her over and over how evil he was... I can't believe..."

"This is my fault." Sasuke muttered. "It's in my fūcking genes. First the Uchiha betray each other and take their eyes, then they betray Konoha. Then Itachi betrays them, and I betray him. Then I betray Team 7 and Konoha. Now it's Sarada." He groaned. He burst out into wild cursing, and Mitsuki and Boruto finally opened the door.

"We've got to get her back!" Boruto heaved. He went over to his sensei and Sakura, who had closed her eyes, a few years streaming down her cheeks. "I swear on my life that I'll get Sarada back. Okay, Uncle Sasuke? I SWEAR. And I never go back on my word. It's my--"

"Ninja Way." Naruto finished, putting his hand on Boruto's shoulder. "We'll save Sarada before she can go too far."

Sakura launched into the two of them and squeezed them both into a hug. "I believe in you, Boruto. And when this is over, yes you can get engaged with Sarada."

Boruto had already smiled and sank into his aunt's hug before he realized what she said. Then he sat tensely and awkwardly, blushing like crazy.

"Naruto," Sakura squeezed his neck, letting go of Boruto. "You've been the little brother I never had ever since I can remember. What did we do to have you in our lives?"

"I hate seeing broken families." Naruto hugged her back, then looked at Sasuke knowingly. Sasuke looked depressed, but Naruto grabbed his arm forcefully and pulled him into the hug. The two of them provided comfort for Sakura, all while nursing their own worry and sadness.

Sarada... Naruto thought. You told me you were going to be Hokage. You meant it. Where did that go? Why would you throw away everything you've worked so hard for... just for this? I'm worried. You're a genius. What are you planning?

《¤》《▪》《¤》《▪》《¤》《▪》《¤》《▪》《¤》《▪》

Itachi sat on the bench by the lake, looking out at the water. Sarada had almost fallen out of the tree over here. That made him upset.

Madara had stolen a lot of things from Itachi, but his niece? That was the last straw. Sarada had become Itachi's life. Everything Itachi did revolved around Sarada. And now she's gone. And Itachi refused to have it. Madara's idea of 'peace' is world destruction. Sarada was a smart child, so she must see that.

Is Sarada just a sociopath disguised as an innocent kid? Hell no. She was raised by Sakura. That woman was a beautiful person, inside and out. And so was Sarada.

So it didn't make sense for her to be evil. Itachi went back through all of his memories with Sarada.

~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~

"Uncle Itachi, are you okay?" She asked as he sat down.

"No." He touched his forhead and looked away. "Forget what I said earlier, Sarada, I might actually end up dying today."

"Like hell you are." Sarada snarled, coming closer to her uncle. "I worked too hard to stop Papa from killing you before. I'm not just gonna let you go now."

~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~

Itachi led the way into the field, shuffling Sarada on his back and making sure she wouldn't fall off or was comfortable. She held onto him tightly, burying her face into his neck.

"It's so nice to have an uncle." She whispered to him. "I hope you can come back with us."

Itachi didn't have the heart to break it to her. "I hope so too."

~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~

"We're here because I need to tell the truth. Finally." Itachi sighed, removing his head from his hands.

Sarada thought he looked pained, so she stood behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders. She let her medical chakra pulse into her uncle, replenishing his strength, but she was getting weaker. Plus, it was the middle of the night. Luckily, her chakra would be back to normal by tommorow, but healing her uncle was taking a lot out of her.

"Thank you, Sarada," Itachi leaned into her touch and smiled up at her.

"It's nothing, Itachi-jii." Sarada nodded, then continued to soften the blow of the sickness.

~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~

"That was a genius idea." Itachi surprised her by saying.

She looked up in shock. "What?"

"It was. You knew we were out there, and we would help you, making the distraction so, well, distracting, they wouldn't notice you sneaking Karin and Juugo out. It was a smart idea. I'm proud of you." Itachi smiled down at her. "Thanks to you, we're all in one piece, and we have Sasuke's 'team'."

Sarada broke into a grin. "Thanks, Itachi-jii. You're the best." She gave him a big hug, grinning into the Akatsuki jacket.

~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~

"Hi, Itachi-jii. Where have you been?" Sarada asked, smiling up at her uncle. She ignored Shisui, and dragged Boruto over to give him a hug.

Itachi knelt and accepted the embraces, exhaling. He'd thought Sarada would hate him for not coming. He guessed she was like Sakura that way, she doesn't hate easily. It's a good habit to have. Itachi wished he thought like that.

~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~

"Itachi, are you okay?" Boruto looked at Itachi, concerned.

Itachi closed his eyes and nodded. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

Sarada noticed everything that happened, and her small smile disappeared. Itachi wasn't fine, and she was definitely worried. "Do you need me to soothe the inflammation in your eyes?"

Itachi chuckled, but shook his head. "Honestly, Sarada, I am fine."

Sarada raised her eyebrows suspiciously. "I don't believe you. Please, let me help you? I'll feel better if you let me."

Itachi's smile disappeared. "Fine."

Sarada used her medical ninjutsu. And then... Itachi collapsed in her arms.

"ITACHI-JII?"

~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~

"Sarada." Itachi said. "I love you with all my heart. You are my precious niece. If I wasn't so... like this... I would spend every moment with you. But I've lived so long with this... I can't do it anymore."

Sarada started to cry again. "You're going to leave me here? Alone? Who's going to be there for me while Papa isn't there? Who is going to oversee my graduation? Be at my wedding? Tease Me? Tickle me? Be my uncle? I mean, all of Papa and Mama's friends I consider family, but who is going to be my blood uncle?"

~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~

"H-hi, Itachi-jii..." She smiled wider, just happy that Itachi was alive, and seemed to be in a stable condition. "I'm glad to see you're doing better, huh?" She said politely.

Itachi grabbed her hand and pulled her into a giant hug. Sarada hugged back, letting tears slip down her cheeks.

"You scared me." Sarada whispered into his shirt, squeezing him tighter. "So, so badly, I had to turn to the dobe for comfort."

Itachi chuckled, the happy laugh resonating from deep in his chest. "Thank you, Sarada... You saved me."

~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~●~

No. There was no way his niece could fake so much emotion. Unless she was a jonin level actor. Which was very possible, because Uchihas weren't known for showing too much emotion.

So the only two reasonable options were that she was a scary-amazing actor, or she wasn't faking it.

And if she wasn't faking it, they had issues.

Lots of issues.

Itachi stood up, stretched, and wasted no time in going back to the house for equipment. He left silently, no one even knew he was gone. After that surgery, he felt good as new, so he was three times the ninja he had been when he was sick.

Then, under the cover of darkness, he slipped into the forest, headed for the old Akatsuki hideout.

"I have a feeling we missed something. There's more to this story." Itachi muttered, pushing off the bark of a tree. "Something that could decide Sarada's fate." And there was no way he was going to let his relative kill his niece.

Even if it cost him his life.

《¤》《▪》《¤》《▪》《¤》《▪》《¤》《▪》《¤》《▪》

Sarada woke up, then blinked. There, sitting in a chair next to her, was Madara. She stood up quickly and bowed. "Madara-sama."

"Oh, Sarada-chan, you can just call me Madara-nii-san." The man smirked. "I won't mind."

"Hai." Sarada chanted dutifully. Madara-nii? Hm... Sarada did recall stories of Madara having a little brother. It was said that Izuna-sama looked almost exactly like Sarada's father.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did that freak you out?" Madara laughed tauntingly. "It's just you remind me so much of my little brother. You know, your father looks exactly like him?"

That's literally what I just thought. Sarada narrowed her eyes, but it was barely visible in the dim light of the room she was staying in. She was currently staying with the Akatsuki. Everyone was treating her nicely, and Sarada had finally learned to get along with Deidara. The two of them went around pranking all of the rest of the Akatsuki, and they couldn't get in trouble because Sarada was the champion of Madara.

It was almost like hanging out with Boruto. It almost dissipated the hole in her heart.

Almost.

"If you need me, Madara-nii," She said quietly, "I'll be training or hanging out with Deidara." Sarada dipped her head respectfully and hurriedly exited the room to find said clay user.

Madara smirked at her. I finally have what I want.

Finally.