"What? What do you mean we have to go???" Boruto and Naruto chorused to the now-coughing Itachi Uchiha. He had just been dying moments ago, but was now okay and telling them they had to leave?

"They're coming for us, and we need to go. Now." Itachi repeated, scrambling to his feet. His eyes showed urgency that got everyone up and moving. Sasuke's leg shackles were cut open so he could run.

"Who's coming?" Boruto and Sarada asked at the same time. Sarada's eyes narrowed as she tried to sense for and presences aside from their own, but she wasn't a sensory ninja. "What are you talking about?"

"The Akatsuki. Tobi. Whoever he is." Itachi stood and went to Sakura. The pinkette looked at him, and he held out his bound hands to her. "Sakura, right? Can you undo these?"

Sakura looked down at the man's hands again, blushing slightly. She hadn't thought Sasuke's older brother would ask her for anything. "I can, but--"

"Thank you." Itachi sighed in relief. "I have to get my niece and her friend out of here. You guys head back to Konoha, and Sasuke will go back to... wherever he goes when he's not trying to kill me." He looked around waiting for any complaints. Then his calculating eyes scanned their surroundings.

Sakura just shook her head, and sighed, undoing the jutsu quickly and quietly. She didn't know what else to do, and no one had told her not to. Why do all Uchiha have to be so bossy?

Sasuke shot Itachi a scathing glare. He wasn't done with the elder Uchiha yet. "One, ouch, Itachi. Two, you're not just gonna walk off with my future daughter like that." Sasuke said. He was close to spitting out the last words.

Sarada sighed, exasperated, remembering something important. "Uncle Itachi, we have to bring Papa along. My mama would murder me if I let him die or something."

"Technically," Itachi frowned, feeling the pressure that they needed to go, "if he died, you wouldn't exist. Which means it's pretty much guaranteed that he'll make it."

"You bastard..." Sasuke snarled, obviously extremely ticked. Itachi still didn't let him do anything. "Let me go so I can defend my daughter!"

"Papa, come on," Sarada said, "You have to be reasonable. Arguing with authority all the time isn't the answer."

"Who the hell made him the 'authority' in the first place??" Sasuke snarled at her with a brooding look on his face. "I was just told that I have a daughter in the future. I'm so, so sorry for wanting to protect her." He finished sarcastically. He didn't really care about her that much yet, since they just met.

Sarada's eyes softened, and Sasuke's heart wrenched at that. "I don't know why," He sighed, completely done with life. He finally looked at Sarada, "I have a strange feeling that I need to protect you. So please, just let me do that and don't make my job harder than it needs to be." He finished, looking away.

Sakura caught the small blush that was on his pale cheeks and smiled softly at Sarada. Who knew?

"And no way in hėll am I gonna leave my future kid alone, believe it!" Naruto called out, smiling and raising his hands behind his head. Sakura shook her head at his stupidity, wondering when exactly he was going to grow up.

"So," Sakura put her hands on her hips, "where to, Itachi-san?" Itachi looked more than upset right now. While they were bickering, the Akatsuki managed to get closer.

"I've got a place, and it should work for now." Itachi said, turning around. He needed to get the people out of there so he could somehow distract the criminal organisation. "Follow me."

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Sarada sighed as Boruto complained loudly about how hungry he was (Again). "Will you shut up already, dobe? Jeez, you're so annoying." Sarada put a hand over her forehead.

Itachi snickered a little at the exchange, gliding from one tree to the next expertly. "You two are funny."

"Shut up, ojii-san!" Sarada and Boruto shouted at the same time, making Itachi only chuckle more. He felt like his heart was lighter now that he wasn't dead... maybe there was some chance of mending things with Sasuke.

Sasuke's eyes met his, and Itachi noticed the burning rage underneath them. He winced. It's going to take a long time to get back to the way we used to be.

"When did he start calling Itachi uncle?" Naruto distracted himself by whispering to his comrades. Well, Sakura and Sasuke. He didn't quite know how Sasuke felt about being called a comrade.

"I don't know, but Itachi-san doesn't seem to mind." Sakura shrugged and smiled. She was too worried to find any fault in anything right now.

Naruto grinned. "He seems pretty chill, actually." He murmured, shaking his head incredulously. Pfft... Uchiha? Cool? Hah.

"No he's not." Sasuke snarled at both of them. "Have you forgotten what he did to the Uchiha?!"

The two of them went quiet again. The only sound from the three of them was their sandals hitting the wood. It became rhythmic and soothed Sakura's heart.

"So, Itachi-jii?" Sarada asked, speeding up to join her uncle. Itachi looked back at her, and slowed down a little.

"Huh?" He asked, smiling a little at the girl.

"Where exactly are we going again?" Sarada frowned, observing the area around them. "I don't remember these woods in Konoha."

"That would be a powerful genjutsu cast by Shisui when we used to hang out here as kids." Itachi smiled fondly at the memory. Those were some or his favorite memories. "No one could ever find it. Shisui was a true genius."

Sarada smiled, then turned her attention to her blonde companion. "Hey Boruto, how are you getting along with your dad?" She asked quietly, running a little closer to her friend.

"He's a lot less of a jerk, that's for sure," Boruto looked back at his dad, who was laughing with Sakura, and Sarada caught even Sasuke crack a smile. They'd untied him, and true to his word, he hadn't left Sarada.

Sarada couldn't help but feel happy that her father was protective of her. He was like this in real life, but he never made a huge deal about it as this Sasuke was.  Maybe it was because the younger version didn't know what to do with those feelings of protectiveness and was more open about it because he didn't know he had them.

This Sasuke had a harder time understanding feelings, that's for sure.

"I hope that we can meet everyone else," Sarada smiled. "Aunt Hinata, Grandpa Kakashi, Granny Tsunade, everyone like that." She couldn't wait to see the other people.

"Yeah, me too." Boruto said, seeming kind of quiet.

"Hey, is something wrong?" Sarada asked her friend, worried.

"It's noth--" he was interrupted by Itachi stopping abruptly, forcing everyone else to stop unless they wanted to crash into him.

"What's up, Itachi-san?" Naruto asked, sounding confused. "Why did we stop?"

"Will you shut up, baka?! We're clearly being monitered. The Akatsuki are nearby." Sasuke and Sarada hissed, both sounding very much like Sasuke's old teacher, Orochimaru. Then they shuddered at the thought.

Itachi did nothing but look straight ahead, and even when the sound of a thousand little birds surrounded them, he did nothing. They had been found.

"Shìt! It's the chidori!" Boruto yelled. "I thought only Uncle Sasuke and Grandpa Kakashi used the chidori!"

Everyone looked at him, eyes widening. They suddenly knew exactly who cornered them this time, and they weren't ready to explain.

Well, looks like we've got company. Itachi thought, staring straight ahead. He didn't particularly care for Kakashi, but he liked the guy well enough.

Suddenly, they were surrounded by a bunch of Kakashi's, all with Chidori in their palms. "Itachi. Sasuke. Let Naruto, Sakura, and the kids go. This doesn't need to get violent."

Itachi's eyes narrowed, but Boruto and Sarada laughed and ran to the real Kakashi. They couldn't help it, he looked so cool as a younger guy. How they knew, without using visual prowess, Itachi couldn't figure out.

"IT'S OKAY, KAKA-SENSEI! ITACHI-SAN AND SASUKE-TEME AREN'T KIDNAPPING US!!!" Naruto screamed, as loud as he could so Kakashi could hear him.

Sakura punched him, and Sasuke rubbed his ear, wincing.

The kids tackled the poor, unsuspecting man, shouting, "Grandpa Kakashi!!!" happily. Kakashi looked at the younger children thinking he was about to have a heart attack.

Kakashi was confused, but didn't let the children go. "Who are these?" He asked, walking to his students.

"Our future kids. Long story." Sasuke huffed shortly.

"No kidding." Kakashi looked at the two, 13 year old kids he was holding. He swung Boruto over his shoulder, and let Sarada climb up him, gripping his neck tightly. Familiarity did wonders for Boruto and Sarada's mood.

Naruto and Sakura started giggling at Kakashi's reactions.

"What are your names, guys?" Kakashi asked, smiling at them behind the mask. He secretly loved kids and absolutely adored when his genin team was young.

"I'm Sarada, this is Boruto." Kakashi beamed at the names Sarada provided.

"Well then, Salada, Burrito, where are y'all headed?" Kakashi asked, laughing at their pouty faces.

Itachi turned from his spot and headed over, taking Boruto from Kakashi to lighten the weight. "We're going to a royal ball. Wanna come?" Itachi put on the exact same smirk Sasuke uses when he's trying not to laugh. Sarcasm was always fun.

"Sure. What do I wear?" Kakashi snickered back. "So," he continued in a serious note, "You back for good?" He didn't know the truth yet, but since he wasn't dead yet there must've been something that went down while he was gone.

"Maybe." Itachi pressed his lips together in thought. "Just maybe."

"What?!" Sasuke asked, confused that his teacher and his brother were acting like old friends. "Back where?"

"Back to Konoha, duh." Kakashi said, looking at his student as if he were stupid. "What do you think? Sorry, your brother was just... impossible to train."

"So I hear." Itachi looks at Sasuke with an amused expression. "So, otouto, how was your stay with Orochimaru?" He asked, sarcastically referring to his desertion of the village for power.

Sasuke growled viciously, displeased with the direction this conversation was going down. Itachi has no right to judge me. The bastard.

"I assume you enjoyed all the power. Anyway, Kakashi, we have to get the kids out of here. I'm going to Shisui's old safe house. Want to help?"

"Well, Tsunade-sama probably would skin me alive, but sure. These little squirts need protection?" He asked, confused. He looked down at Boruto and Sarada, who were snickering quietly.

"Apparently." Sasuke muttered, looking away.

"The Akatsuki are coming for them." Itachi clarified, "Now, if you're coming, we have to leave."

"I'm coming," Kakashi reassured him. "But first I have to properly address Sasuke and the others."

He handed Sarada to Itachi as well, making Boruto scoot over on his back. Then he turned and walked over to them.

He stopped in front of Sasuke, and stared at him heatedly. Sarada watched, interested. A showdown between Kakashi and Sasuke? The outcome would be interesting.

Kakashi then proceeded to hit Sasuke very hard on the head. Hard enough to rattle the brain around in there.

Sasuke clenched his teeth. "Dâmn you, Kakashi, that hurt." He hissed, rubbing his head soothingly. He righted himself, still mightily pissed off.

"That was the point, baka." Kakashi grinned and turned back to Itachi, who said nothing. He just watched silently as his old captain bullied his little brother. Fucking sociopath... Sasuke thought, shooting him a nasty look. "That's for all these years of stupidity."

Sasuke winced and internally screamed, but showed no outward emotion besides a plethora of cursing.

"SASUKE!" Sakura shouted at the boy, who rubbed his head violently, glaring at his old sensei. "Don't say such things in front of the kids!"

Sarada, Boruto, Kakashi and Itachi raised an eyebrow at this. All four were thinking very different things, however.

Boruto's thoughts were guilty ones: if only you knew, aunt Sakura...

Kakashi's thoughts were reminiscent: What did I miss, and what happened to 'Sasuke-kun'?

Itachi's thoughts were amuzed: it seems Sakura is embracing her motherly instincts. Interesting.

Sarada's thoughts were terrified: Dāmmit, overprotective Mama is back...

"It's not like it's anything they don't already know..." Sasuke muttered, making excuses to avoid the wrath of Sakura.

"EH? DID YOU SAY SOMETHING???" Sakura cracked her knuckles threatningly, and Sasuke had to flinch away to avoid another hit to the head. Arguing with Sakura wasn't a good idea. No matter who you are. 

"No!" Sasuke ducked behind Naruto, who only smirked at his friend. He wished Sasuke would understand the world of pain that was Sakura's fist like he had. It would be karma for the genin years of torture that Naruto went through while Sasuke was doted on.

Now you will suffer as I suffered. The blonde thought maliciously. Suffer.

Itachi and Kakashi chuckled a little, then picked up the pace again. It appeared both of them knew where they were going, so they matched each other's stride and started making their way through the forest. The others were left with no option but to follow, Kakashi taking Boruto and Itachi taking Sarada on his back like he used to do with Sasuke. The sight almost made Sasuke want to tear up.

He didn't.

"So why are we running again?" Naruto asked Itachi and Kakashi, who seemed to know what they were doing. "I wanna go back there and kick some Akatsuki åss, 'ttebayo!"

"Because they want Sarada and Boruto." Sasuke replied sharply, still rubbing his head gingerly.

"But they can--"

"No, dobe, until they're safe, we're not facing the Akatsuki." Sasuke said, making it clear his decision was final.

As if it was his choice anyway, Naruto thought bitterly, then went back to chatting with his kid and everyone else.

"Not only that," Kakashi added, "Naruto still has the Kyuubi sealed in him. I don't want to face the whole organization with a wounded ally," he referred to Itachi here, "two kids, and three semi-brats."

"Is the while organization coming?" Sakura asked, trying to gather information about the situation.

Itachi looked back at her and gave her a curt nod. "Their chakra signatures feel familiar."

"But weren't a couple of them dead? Chico and I killed Sasori with our bare hands." Sakura reminded them.

"Kakuzu and Hidan are dead too," Naruto pointed out, before frowning. "At least... Shikamaru said he wouldn't be bothering us anytime soon..."

"Deidara's dead too." Sasuke added, eyes closed. Everyone looked at him with varying levels of surprise, because Deidara had eluded them for a long time before he'd apparently kicked the bucket.

"I'm thinking the Edo Tensei technique they got from Kabuto." Itachi commented offhandedly like he didn't just bring up the single scariest jutsu in the world.

Sarada and Boruto exchanged worried glances. Their arrival had suddenly sped things up dramatically.

Sasuke remained silent, as usual, until Itachi finally nudged him. "We're here." His brother pointed to a strangely large house by a river.

Itachi stopped everyone before they could step any closer to the house.

"Shisui's obviously going to have traps here." Itachi muttered, " So we all have to be very careful." He glared pointedly at the two most accident-prone ones, making Sakura giggle.

"That means no funny business, boys," Sakura smirked. "Unless you want to be impaled by some kind of shuriken, or burnt to a crisp by a katon or Amaterasu."

No one quite liked the idea of becoming fried Shinobi.

"Hai, Sakura-chan."

"Hai, Aunt Sakura," The two knuckleheads replied nervously, exchanging a glance.

Itachi looked around to be cautious, and stepped onto the meadow that led to the house. "Now everyone, try not to die."