Here it is, the very last chapter of the story. It's long, but I couldn't stop writing. There were far too many characters in the story and I tried to mention most of them.

Thank-you to all you who reviewed or fav'd the story, or just lurked around and read every week. It really made me want to continue.

I have been considering another story, based on Madara's childhood, but I'm still not sure I want to write another weekly story. I don't have as much time to write now as I did (as you can tell by the last few chapters). If I do write it I may do bi-weekly updates instead.

Edited to add Sasori... can't believe I forgot him...

Anyway, here it is!

Disclaimer: Kishimoto owns Naruto

X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Epilogue

Itachi yawned wide as he stood up and stretched. He had been up all night on a stake-out outside of a store in the shopping district trying to find out who was breaking in and stealing merchandise. The fact that it was weapons shop made the operation that much more important. Of course, the thief never showed up meaning there would be another round of stake-outs that night.

He didn't mind though. As he bent down and pulled the ten-year-old Shisui to his feet and held him up until Rumiko could hand him his crutches he considered his job as Chief of Police to be the most rewarding and pleasant career he could have ever wished for. After all, being able to attend events with his family instead of making excuses for missing them was certainly a dream come true.

"Why can't we sit on chairs at the temple?" The boy complained.

"Because." Rumiko's annoyed answer at her brothers never-ending complaint about the lack of chairs in the world was old and, to her, pointless. After all, there were lots of people to help him and she would certainly never leave him behind.

"This is a sacred occasion, Shisui. So we had to sit on the floor. That's what momma said!" The seven-year-old boy who stared up at his sister with wide eyes and was the fourth of Itachi's five children, and definitely the most troublesome. Seemingly fearless, Yuki had been born during a terrible snow storm in January and, of course, his name therefore meant "snow". He truly seemed at times to still be riding the gale force winds that had blown through the village that afternoon as he ran headlong into whatever trouble caught his eye.

Itachi looked around for kid number three and saw him standing with Naruto, Hinata and their young daughter. 'Where else would Haruka be?' He thought to himself. Though not as big of a trouble maker as Yuki, he had latched on to his uncle Naruto at an early age, entranced by the man's stories of adventure and sacrifice.

"It's a wedding. So what." Rumiko was definitely not the romantic type and was less than impressed with the frivolous clothes she had been forced to wear or having to be around adults who expected her to behave in a manner befitting the next head of the Uchiha clan.

Sheeta and Mikoto laughed as Ino rapped the little girl lightly on the head, "Show some respect, do you know how many years Sakura has been trying to drag that belligerent good-for-nothing to the alter? Six. That's how long. If it were me I would have found someone else."

"Sometimes I wish you had." Shikamaru mumbled under his breath, then smiled warmly at Rumiko who was now looking at him with a confused expression on her face. He went on to explain, "Ino got me by asking my mother if she could marry me instead of asking me! How's that for dirty play."

Ino laughed, "Well, I know what I want and I know how to get it. Besides, I know you're happy/"

"Yeah, kind of hard not to be. Right Chouji?" He hoisted his two-year-old son in the air and smiled as the boy laughed.

Sheeta adjusted her own two-year-old daughter so she could see the action. The girl was rubbing her eyes and yawning, "I can't believe Aina slept through the whole thing. Thank god for that. She was fussy all night and wouldn't take a nap at all this morning."

"Shall we go to the reception?" Mikoto interrupted, "I have to admit, I'm starving."

"Me too." Fugaku stepped forward and placed a hand on Shisui's shoulder. "Let's get going, kid."

Shisui nodded and using his crutches for support pulled himself forward. His legs had never gained the strength to walk, but he could stand and with the help of his crutches was not confined to a wheelchair. Although he did have one, nonetheless. Sometimes, it was just easier, and he considered that perhaps he should have brought it instead of the crutches to the wedding. However, he quickly changed his mind when he saw the large spread of food on about fifteen tables in the garden behind the Konoha temple. Being a small child, it was difficult to see over a table in his wheelchair. He might miss some of the food.

"So where's the groom?" Itachi smirked, looking around at the large gathering of people. The wedding had been huge, considering how popular the couple was, and about three times the number of people who had attending the actual exchange of vows were expected to show up at the reception.

"Right here." The voice was no more than two feet behind him, "She won't let me leave until it's over, un. I hate crowds."

"I never thought you'd actually get married. I half expected you to run away." Itachi admitted truthfully. "Mr. and Mrs. Um… what name are you guys using? I don't think I ever heard your last name come to think of it."

"Sakura's. I'm now Mr. Deidara Haruno." He gave them a sad smile, "My own name reminds me too much of how my idiot dad kicked me out of the house when I was a kid because his new wife didn't want me around. That's why I only went by 'Deidara' for so many years. There was no way I was going to burden Sakura with it. Or our children. If we have any, un."

Itachi wondered what Deidara as a father would look like and shook his head at the vision of a toddler being taught how to mold clay explosives went through his brain. Perhaps some people weren't meant to have kids he decided. He looked over at the pink-haired bride who was currently besieged by guests complimenting her on her beautiful emerald green kimono. Sakura would be just as bad. She would probably have the toddler learning to control his chakra by climbing the walls.

An image of a two-year old crawling around on the ceiling and dropping small bombs on people was too much and Itachi snickered. He reached up and placed a hand on Deidara's shoulder, "Old friend, I hope you have many children. I see great things for your future." As he walked away he heard the blond cursing, then mutter something about Sake and octopus.

Turning around he watched Deidara disappear into the crowd and wondered if he was still disappointed Sasori refused to come to the wedding. It wasn't unexpected, though. The puppetmaster preferred the solitary life and coming anywhere near a ninja village was not pleasant for him. The last time Itachi had seen him was almost nine years ago at which time Sasori had informed him that he was still waiting for an Uchiha corpse to join his puppet collection. The young Uchiha had told him not to keep his hopes up, but Sasori had just laughed and changed the subject. After that, Deidara would come and go from Konoha, first to visit with Sasuke and later to spend time with Sakura. Sasori was still very important to the blond, though, and another disturbing thought popped into his head.

Sasori babysitting Deidara and Sakura's kids and teaching them how to make human puppets. Then there would be a kid hiding behind a cabinet controlling a puppet crawling around on the ceiling dropping clay blombs on people. He lost it and began laughing. Lucking he interrupted from imagining more disturning images.

"Father…" Shisui was now walking beside him, "Can I ask you a question?"

"You already did." He gave his son a wide grin.

"That one's getting old, you know." The boy grimaced, pretending to be in pain at the bad joke.

"Okay. What is it?" He stopped walking and bent over so he could look his son in the eyes.

The boy seemed suddenly hesitant and shifted uncomfortably on his crutches, "Rumiko asked me… why… why does Grandfather pay more attention to Sasuke than to you?"

It took all of Itachi's self control not to laugh. The question had been serious, and the ever- watchful Rumiko was certainly bound to suspect something, sooner or later.

Shisui continued, "She said we shouldn't ask because grandfather might get mad. But I don't agree. He doesn't get mad. Not really."

"You never cease to amaze me Shisui. You have incredible insight when it comes to people. But as for your grandfather and uncle… well, he…" Itachi was silent for a minute. How exactly could he explain such a complicated subject to a boy who neither understood nor cared about the Shinobi lifestyle and, worse still, was only ten-years-old? "Your grandfather really misses Sasuke since he's always in Mist village, so when he comes here to visit he wants to be with him as much as possible."

"But grandfather goes to Mist a lot as well. We think there's something else going on."

Itachi knew that one day he would have to explain a lot of unpleasant things to his children, but as he looked around at the wedding reception and all the happy people eating, dancing, and talking, the details seemed far away and more like a half-forgotten story he read in a book than his real life.

"It's a long story, kid. A very, very long story." Suddenly tired he pulled up a chair and sat down so he could see his son without bending over, " I guess, the short version is that Sasuke ran away from home when he was eleven and Fugaku never forgave himself for that. And… I'm not sure Sasuke has ever forgiven him either."

"But Sasuke likes grandfather. He spends a lot of time with him and they talk and laugh and stuff."

"Yeah. It's one of those grown-up emotions. You can love someone and still have something between you that can't be overcome. Don't worry about it if you don't understand."

"Okay." The boy sounded downcast, but brightened up quickly enough, "Mom is waving at me. She probably wants to fix me a plate of food. Kind of hard to hold it myself with the crutches!" He gave his father a toothy grin and hurried away to get his dinner.

"That boy doesn't miss too many meals, does he?" The deep voice made Itachi turn. Kisame was smirking.

"Nope. Not him. The other four would forget to eat if we didn't tie them down and shove the food down their throats, but Shisui is always the first one at the table. Frankly, I don't know where he puts it all. He eats twice what his sister does and is still thin."

"Ha ha ha! Making up for your picky eating, that's what he's doing!" Kisame laughed, remembering all the times he had goaded the too-skinny and very picky teenage Itachi to eat.

"Maybe, maybe." He patted his friend on the arm and made his way to his families table.

X x x x x x x x x x x

"Too many weddings." Itachi complained under his breath as he stared down at the plate of food Mikoto plopped down in front of him. "I'm going to get fat if all our friends keep getting married. Why do you always fill the plate so full?"

"Because you don't eat enough, Itachi. When we let you go to the buffet table on your own you always come back with a small bowl of vegetables and a bowl of plain rice. Therefore you have been banned from getting your own food." Mikoto laughed at the withered look her son gave her. He had never been a gourmand and would probably be just as happy to live off of soldier pills and dango if left to his own devices. Luckily he had a lot of people around him to keep that from happening.

"I'll eat it for you, father!" Shisui piped up and before his mother could even put his plate on the table he had grabbed a slice of chicken with his chopsticks and shoved it in his mouth.

Sheeta smiled, "Considering how little Shisui ate as a baby it makes me happy to see he has a healthy appetite now."

"We're missing someone…" Itachi looked around the table and counted, "One, two, four, five… Where's three?"

Small hands wrapped themselves around Itachi's eyes, "Guess who?"

"Haruka?" Itachi was always amused by his third child's fascination with guessing games.

"I'm hungry." The boy sat down between Shisui and Fugaku, "I was with Uncle Naruto and Aunt Hinata. She's getting fat!"

"Ha ha, the baby's coming this week, so its understandable." Mikoto added. "That makes two kids for them. They got a ways to catch up with you, Itachi." The couple already had a fourteen month old daughter.

"I… yeah…" Itachi grinned. While he and Sheeta hadn't really set out to have five kids, expecting, ten years ago, that after everything they had gone through with Shisui and Rumiko, two would be more than enough, things just hadn't worked out that way. A year and a half later Haruka was born, because, well, why not? The logic wasn't important, it was the heart that mattered. And two more children followed in the years afterward.

While raising so many kids was difficult, especially with Shisui's disability and Rumiko who had developed heart problems as well as a learning disability that made it difficult for her to read or concentrate, they had a lot of help.

Itachi worked all day as the Police chief, of course, and was often called upon at night to act as clan chief while Sheeta pursued a career developing and breaking secret codes. Mikoto looked after the children during the day and Sheeta's Aunt would often come by to help as well.

Fugaku also helped, amazing enough. Itachi couldn't believe the man that was currently trying to get Aina to eat a piece of fish was really the same man who had broken his arm twenty-three years ago. The elder Uchiha laughed when the little girl made a sour face and spit out the morsel. He would never of done that back then… back when things were falling apart…

"It must be too salty for her." Sheeta was also laughing.

"I didn't think she'd like it." Fugaku wiped her chin. "I guess we'll stick to chicken for today." He placed a few chicken pieces on her plate and she immediately grabbed one in her tiny hands and began to nibble on it, a big grin on her face.

His father had become much more patient and was less prone to anger, although, of course, as ANBU advisor under Tsunade, he was certainly an expert at dropping that persona and becoming a ruthless ninja at a seconds notice.

A bellowing laugh caught his attention and looked over at the next table where Kisame was, most likely, teasing someone at their expense. The man's twisted sense of humor had never changed. Although his circumstances had. As the Water countries' Daimyou's right hand he executed great responsibility over that countries population. It seemed to suit him in some ways, and constrict him in others, but on the whole, he seemed happy. And the country itself had finally started to show signs of stability.

Of course, what had helped was Itachi's insistence that Kisame bring his daughters and niece to Water country to live with him as their father instead of "that guys who visits the temple occasionally and donates lots of money". He had balked at first, not wanting to tarnish their lives with his misdeeds, but after a year of arguing Kisame had finally given in and taken the three girls home.

"They'll never forgive me for lying to them all these years. For saying I was just the guy who found them and took them to a safe place. For not telling them who I really was." The man had said with regret.

But of course, they had suspected something was amiss and hadn't blamed him at all. In fact, they were quite happy to find out that their suspicions had been right. Kisame had just shaken his head in resignation and muttered something about never being able to understand women, even if they were kids.

However, they weren't kids anymore. They were teenagers, seventeen, eighteen and nineteen years old and, for the last few years, trying desperately to play matchmaker for their widowed father much to his chagrin. And perhaps it was working, if the dark haired woman who was sitting next to him squeezing his arm was any indication.

At the same table, surprisingly enough, was Madara, Aya, their nine-year-old daughter Ran and Sora. The little girl was watching the teens closely, and the look in her eyes was definitely one of admiration. For the most part they were the only other kids she had any interaction with. As the only child of the Daimyou it was too dangerous to send her to school so she had a tutor. There had already been several kidnapping attempts against all four girls and while it was regrettable, they had to be kept safe.

It was highly unusual for Madara to do any travelling at all. After being cursed he spent most of his time working long hours at the capital trying to right some of his many wrongs. It was difficult work, and often helping one group would mean harming another causing his "goodwill" to backfire. Slowly, but surely, though, Water country was moving forward. The endless civil wars had finally drawn to a close, meaning that trade routes could now re-open without fear of being robbed or murdered. He had also helped repatriate the destroyed villages that had, a long time ago, located themselves on small islands near Water country.

Whirlpool was the biggest and it turned out that about half of the pirates who had once followed Kisame were descendants of that island. The rest were spread out among three other minor villages in the same area. Naruto had been key to helping his mother's old home rebuild, spending a year living there as a liaison for Konoha during construction. They had wanted him to stay and become their kage, but he had his sights set on the place where he grew up.

Those islands were now provinces of Water country, borrowing its power to protect their shores instead of fending them off in war. The world had changed for them and hopefully it was for the better.

He saw his old teammate from his childhood, Yuri, sitting several table down with her husband and two kids, as well as several other members of her clan. Including Zetsu, who, it turned out, was also a member of that clan and had been welcomed back with open arms. Although he much preferred to live in a small house several miles from Konoha. It was very rare to see him enter Konoha and Itachi wondered how Yuri had managed it.

Looking closely, however, he became suspicious and without thinking let his Sharingan appear for a moment before letting it disappear again. Smiling he looked at his wife and pointed in Yuri's direction.

"Yeah, I know. She called me last night while you were at work." Sheeta returned his smile. "Apparently that vacation they took came with fringe benefits. She wanted to thank us for suggesting the resort and wanted to know which one our 'fringe benefits' was conceived there. I told her I didn't remember." The woman clapped her hands together and laughed.

Itachi looked over his kids who now seemed more interested in talking with each other than eating. Even Aina was trying to join in the conversation.

"I start school tomorrow!" Yuki bragged, flashing a toothy smile. "I'm going to be a ninja just like dad!"

"I'm going to be a ninja just like uncle Naruto!" Haruka added. He was already a student at the Academy and so far wasn't exactly following in his uncles footsteps. For one thing, he was first in his class and far too serious to truly be considered a clone of his mentor. But he didn't mind. He just wanted some adventure.

Itachi noticed that Rumiko's smile was forced and his heart went out to her. She had failed the physical examination for the Academy three years in a row and when she had asked to try again he had overridden her desires and told her "no". On the third try the medic had detected a heart murmur that, despite two surgeries, was still a problem. Her wishes of becoming a Kunoichi were gone.

Shisui, on the other hand, never expressed any desire to be a ninja. The coordination required to throw a kunai was so much harder than simple things like writing or using chopsticks that he openly wondered why anyone would want to do that. And of course, he knew about Danzou, who had poisoned his clan and caused his birth defects. Shisui had somehow, at the age of five, put two and two together and decided that if he became a ninja he would somehow become like Danzou.

Itachi had trouble arguing that, knowing that the one time founder of the "Root" organization, had probably lived out the purest form of the Shinobi lifestyle, and that he had been trained and raised in Konoha. Even as simple as Shisui's suppositions were, they had merit and no one had the heart to argue with him.

Rumiko and Shisui attended the civilian school, but the subjects were still based on the support of a Shinobi village. They were still taught self defense, as well as some basic Shinobi skills like hiding and walking silently, but they were also asked to choose a career path from about two dozen apprenticeships. Rumiko had chosen her mother's line of work and was in a program heavy with math. With her learning disability she found it easier to crunch numbers than to read, something that was baffling her therapist who decided that her brain was probably just wired weird and hoped it was sign that she could overcome her problem as she aged. In two years she would become an apprentice and work part time in her mother's office in the afternoon and attend classes at the school in the morning to prepare for the cryptography exam.

Shisui, on the other hand had surprised everyone with his choice. The ten-year-old had declared that he wanted to be a Shinto priest when he grew up. Of course, the school didn't have an apprenticeship specifically for that, so he was placed in the schools college prep program. If he still wished to be a priest, in a couple years he would transfer over to the Konoha Shrine and become a full-time apprentice. If he changed his mind he could attend the Konoha middle school and stay on the college prep track, eventually leading into high school and then university.

Time was passing quickly and before long the sun was hanging low on the horizon. It was early September and the warm summer was lingering, seemingly averse to giving over control of the seasons to autumn. Aina was asleep in her high chair and Yuki was draped over Sheeta's shoulder, also sound asleep.

"Another day is gone." Itachi sighed lightly. He stood up and carefully lifted the toddler without waking her.

"It's only seven o'clock." Shisui piped up in middle of yawning.

"I don't care. I'm tired." It wasn't surprising to hear Rumiko say that, after all she tired easily.

"Let's go then." Itachi looked around and saw Kisa and Toshiro dancing a waltz while the band played a rock ballad and shook his head. They were having a good time, though, if the big smiles on their face were any indication. Hanabi and Haku were dancing nearby while Zabuza and Kakashi leaned up against the outside wall of the temple with their noses buried in the latest novel from Jiraiya's newest "Paradise in the Forest" romance series. It had been released that morning and as Itachi turned to look he saw several other men (and women) sitting quietly and reading.

Jiraiya, who was now in his sixties was amusing several twenty-something kunoichi's with tales of his power. The in turn went along with it and laughed at all the right places. One of them turned to look Tsunade and gave her a decidedly bitter frown. Itachi wondered if the Kage had paid the girls to humor her old friend. If so, it must have been a lot of money.

"Are you through people watching?" Sheeta asked quietly as she looped her arm around his. "That's all you've done today."

"Just… remembering stuff. There's a lot of history here."

"This is a wedding, Itachi. You're not supposed to look at the past at the wedding. Just the future."

"That does make sense." Even so, as the family left the festivities and began to walk back to the Uchiha compound, Itachi couldn't help but think of the people who weren't at the party. From Sakura's parents, whose portraits had been posted prominently in the temple so their visages could see their daughter's wedding, to his old friends Shisui, Yota, his first team leader Yurina, his daugher's namesake Rumiko, Sheeta's older brother Fumitake. Names and faces raced through his mind as he listed the names of everyone close to him who had died. But he was interrupted by two teenage boys who ran up to intercept them.

"Leaving without us, huh?" Arata complained as he grabbed Shisui and lifted him off his feet and threw him on Yori's back.

"We're your taxi, cousin, come to take you home in style!" Yori adjust the boy as his brother took hold of the crutches. Within seconds they had run off at full speed.

"My poor brother, kidnapped again." Rumiko pretended to be sad, then smiled wide, "Better him than me. I don't know how he stands it. They go way too fast." She yawned again and Itachi handed the toddler to his wife and knelt down.

"Get on, Rumiko. You're falling asleep on your feet."

"Okay. Too tired to argue." She was asleep a couple minutes later, much to Itachi's chagrin.

"It's a good party if the kids fall asleep, I guess." Mikoto added.

"And the adults." Fugaku was also yawning. "Good thing we don't have events like that every week. I getting too old for this."

X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

That night they caught their robber during the stake-out and Itachi found himself home earlier than he expected. As midnight approached he opened the door to the kitchen to grab some tea only to find Madara and Sasuke sitting there waiting for him.

"Don't you two ever sleep?" Itachi asked good naturedly. The bright fluorescent light seemed harsh after walking through the dark village. On the way home he happened to pass the temple and heard the party still going on.

"We could ask you the same question, couldn't we?" Sasuke smirked. "Did you catch your thief?"

"Finally. He figured since everyone was at the party he would have free reign. Didn't actually work out that way. He was, nevertheless, quite skilled. It turned out to be a sixteen-year-old delinquent from the Hyuuga clan so we had to get Hinata involved as well, unfortunately. She wasn't very happy about it. That kid keeps getting in trouble."

"Reminds me of someone." Madara spoke up.

"Yeah. Yota. But he never made it to sixteen. And this kids got a better family than Yota did. He's just a troublemaker. Nevertheless, he's facing jail this time. Stealing weapons is a hundred times worse than stealing snacks or porn. He really made a bad choice this time." He paused as he heard something from the living room.

Sasuke spoke up as he poured his older brother a cup of tea, "Natsuko, Sheeta, Aya and mom are watching a movie. Dad went to bed."

"Hmm." He figured it was probably a Samurai movie of some sort. Girls seemed to like the valiant type.

"Rumiko sure has a lot of medical stuff in her room." Madara replied. "Is she okay?"

"Yes, thank-you for your concern. Most of it is just left over from when the twins were babies. But she does have to be connected to a monitor while she sleeps. She's scheduled for another exam at the end of October. A specialist in Wind country wants to look at her." He changed the subject, "So how is your baby doing, Sasuke?"

"Ha, ha." The man laughed and scratched the back of his head. The two-month-old infant was too young to travel so she was left in the care of her grandparents for a couple weeks. "We're leaving tomorrow morning. Natsuko is getting antsy about being away from Ryuunosuke. He's our first after all, but at the same time, I didn't want to miss Sakura and Deidara's wedding, and neither did my wife. It was a hard decision to come, but her parents assured her that if she survived their upbringing, then they could probably watch after their grandson without any problems too."

Madara laughed, "Don't forget the daily updates from Tama."

The cat walked leisurely out from under table and yawned. "Is it breakfast time yet?"

Itachi tensed up slightly. Animal familiars were far to unpredictable for him, saying whatever they wanted – usually at his expense.

"Maybe for you." Sasuke laughed. "Tama's been checking on the baby and giving daily reports to Natsuko. Her parents even placed him next to a newspaper to show the date of the photo to prove he's still okay. They have such a bizarre sense of humour, but it made her laugh."

"Ran is looking forward to meeting her nephew. She was disappointed he couldn't come." Madara added. "And of course…" he smiled and shook his head, "I simply can't believe that I'm a grandfather. It just doesn't seem possible…" His voice disappeared.

Itachi reflected how different Madara was now from his old self. He was much more subdued and thoughtful, and while he had never truly gotten over his defeat ten years earlier, he no longer dwelled on it either.

Sasuke continued, "Karin, Suigetsu and Juugo are back in Mist as well. Ha! I still can't believe Karin and Suigetsu… though I guess I should have suspected something. They always spent so much time together. You know, that resort you keep sending people to, Itachi, seems to have a rather… odd… effect on people. When they came back from vacation last month they were married and expecting a kid. Is there something about that place I should know about?"

"No." Itachi shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"Hmm." Sasuke and Madara were suspicious.

"By the way, thanks for sending Nui to help at the hospital." Sasuke said. "Her daughter Nagi is sure a handful, though. She's got half the boys her age chasing her and the other half wishing they could by the first half to chase her as well."

Itachi laughed, "She was more than happy to spend a year there and help set up the Shinobi hospital alliance. Ninja have a lot of special concerns that normal people don't. Kabuto is going to be stopping by there on his way back from his current mission so he can help out as well."

"The Mizukage is so happy about all your help she keeps breaking down in tears of joy. What a strange woman."

"Don't say that to her face." Madara warned, "She'll rearrange your bones without anesthetic."

"Ouch." Sasuke grinned.

Silence fell between the trio and the seconds ticked by. He looked at the door and jumped when he thought he saw someone staring back at him, then sighed.

"What?" Sasuke asked, concerned.

"Nothing." He shook his head as he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. It happened sometimes. Perhaps because of his Eternal Sharingan, or his connection to the gods. Or maybe it was some special ability he was born with. But sometimes, he would swear, he could ghosts. They never seemed to stay, or be more than a passing feeling or perhaps a vision from the corner of his eye, but nevertheless… Nevertheless…

"Who did you see this time?" Madara interrupted him.

"Huh?"

The man was serious, "You know what I mean."

"Yeah, well… Obito. I thought… I saw him… dressed in the same clothes he wore to my fourth birthday party. But it's…"

"You asked me about him once, Itachi. A long time ago. You asked…"

"I asked if you were him. If you had taken his body. Because… because I kept seeing him when I looked at you."

Madara sighed and stood up, turning his back on the two brothers, "I can't explain what you are seeing, or why, or how… but as for Obito… I did visit him shortly after his death to… steal his eyes. One was already taken by Kakashi and the other, believe it or not was still in good condition. It had been pushed back inside his skull by the rock and against his brain. The fact that Obito had remained conscious and able to speak during his last moments was a good sign that the brain hadn't been damaged, just his spine and limbs. So I knew I wasn't going to completely waste my time if I went looking for him."

"So… when I saw you… you had his eye…"

"Yeah. I admit it. Finally. Odd, I feel a little better now. But it still seems weird… almost like Obito was haunting me… perhaps his ghost was following me around and that's what you were seeing? I really can't explain it, Itachi."

"It does make sense. What happened to his eye?"

"After you asked me if I was using Obito's body I suspected you might know something so I switched out his eye with another. You never brought it up again so… Anyway… all those eyes are in the hideout in my secret apartment." He sat back down and drained his tea cup. "Could I trouble you, Itachi, to deal with the eyes? I believe they should have a proper burial. I emptied the chamber of my personal effects, and took everything back to Water country, but I left the eyes. I… felt perhaps just destroying them would be… bad somehow."

Itachi nodded seriously, "I'll take care of it. Thank-you for telling me." He gave a short laugh, "I thought maybe I was going crazy back then. I kept trying to catch you because I thought you were a ghost."

"Not yet." Madara added, then after a few moments of silence added, "It sounds like the movie ended. Sauske, if we're going to catch the morning train at the outpost town we should leave soon. It'll take three hours to get there."

"Sure thing, Madara."

As Itachi watched them disappear down the road he felt Sheeta wrap her arm around his shoulders and lean her head against his chest, "I wish Konan had felt like coming out."

"Nagato's death last spring was pretty hard on her. She said she didn't really feel like travelling or attending a party. Plus, she stepped in as the ruler of Rain so she does have a lot to do." Itachi rested his cheek on the top of her head, "She sent them a great gift though, a two week vacation at 'that' resort."

"Do you think we should tell everyone that we're actually the ones who own it?" Sheeta asked conspiratorially.

"Nah. It's much more fun this way."

Darkness fell over the house as the rest of the lights were turned off and everyone fell asleep. The stars flashed brilliantly in the sky as they circled the heavens and the full moon lit the landscape in its warm white light. Shadows, or perhaps ghosts, flitted about the town as the branches of the many trees blew lightly in the breeze and as the party faded and the guests went home the occasional napkin would blow off a table, a plastic fork would flip over. And drifting over the wind was the sound of laughter and half-forgotten conversation. Or maybe it was just the wind chimes and a bird with insomnia.

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The End.

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I hope that wrapped up the story well enough. Let me know what you think. I have to admit, I kept rewriting it, trying to figure out a way to give some kind of update on most of the characters and decided that a people-watching Itachi at a wedding would be the best approach.

Once again, thank-you for sticking with the story and reading all the way to the end. It means a lot to me.