Uchiha Itama helped Sasuke up and settled him back in his chair.
"Eat."
At Mikoto's cue, everyone picked up their chopsticks.
"I am done."
Itama finished, set down his bowl, and jogged to his room.
"Brother, wait for me."
Sasuke dropped his half-eaten bowl and chased after him.
Itachi watched Sasuke's small back with a gentle look.
When that back vanished, his eyes dimmed again.
He seemed to struggle, to waver.
At last he let out a sigh.
On one side was the village, on the other the clan.
It was hard for Itachi to choose.
But deep down, he already had an answer.
"Father, Mother, I am finished too."
"Itachi, wait."
Fugaku stopped him. "It has been a while. Come to my study. Let us talk, just father and son."
"All right."
Itachi hesitated, then nodded.
Itama entered his room and closed the door.
Sasuke, sprinting too fast, smacked straight into it.
"It hurts..."
Only then did Itama open the door.
"Come in."
"Yes."
Sasuke walked in happily, seeming not to mind Itama's earlier prank at all.
"Brother, where have you been these days? Why are you not playing with me? Mother said Father is teaching you ninja stuff. Is it fun?"
"Between you and big brother, who is stronger now?"
"When can I start learning?"
The questions tumbled out one after another.
Itama flicked Sasuke's forehead with a finger.
"Why do kids have so many questions?"
Sasuke clutched his forehead and argued, "I am already three. I am not a kid. And you are not much older, just three years more."
Itama arched a brow.
"You want to know who is stronger, me or Itachi?"
"Yeah."
"Then I will tell you the truth. I am far stronger than Itachi. A hundred Itachis are not equal to my little pinky. With a light flick, he would lose."
Itama held up his little finger.
"Boasting."
"I do not believe you."
"Big brother is our clan's genius."
"Even Father praises him."
"You only just started learning ninja things."
Itama reached out and flicked Sasuke's forehead again.
"It is late. Go to your room and sleep."
"I will not."
But Itama had already pushed him out.
He locked the door.
"Sasuke, time for bed."
Mikoto's voice rose from the hall.
"Okay, Mother."
Only then did Sasuke return to his room, sulking.
On the other side.
Fugaku and Itachi sat in the study.
"Itachi, how is the Anbu? If you are not adapting, you can leave. Be an ordinary shinobi, or join the Uchiha Police Force."
"No."
Itachi shook his head. "Anbu is fine."
Silence fell over the study.
Fugaku looked at him.
Once, they had so much to say.
Now there was a sense of growing distance.
A foreignness.
"By the way, Itachi, do you like our current district? Itama keeps telling me the old place was better. He misses it. What about you?"
"I think this is better."
Fugaku's brow twitched.
"You do not miss the old house, that courtyard?"
Itachi thought for a moment.
"But this place is the better choice now."
Better for whom? Was the relocation better for the Uchiha?
No.
It was only better for the Leaf.
The leadership had pushed the Uchiha to the village's edge, isolating and dividing them.
It had done the clan no good.
It had not been voluntary.
It had been forced by the village elders.
KNOCK KNOCK!
"Come in."
Mikoto pushed the door open.
"It is late. Itama and Sasuke are already asleep. You should rest too. You are off tomorrow as well, are you not, Itachi?"
"All right."
Fugaku nodded.
"Itachi, go rest."
"Yes, Father."
Itachi stood.
"Good night, Father, Mother."
"Good night."
Fugaku watched his son's back. When Itachi vanished down the corridor, Fugaku let out a long breath, his face darkening.
From Itachi's answers just now, Fugaku confirmed one thing.
When weighing clan and village, Itachi put the village first.
In other words.
If the Uchiha and the Leaf split, Itachi would most likely stand with the village.
Not with the Uchiha.
Itama sat cross-legged on the floor.
"Mental stimulus."
An image rose in his mind.
Night.
Itachi stood in the moonlight, a bloody kunai in hand.
Fugaku and Mikoto lay in a pool of blood at his feet.