Wow, I'm surprised by how quickly I managed to update this. Without further ado, I hope you all enjoy!

"—and then I said to her, I said 'When it comes to math, there's no such thing as a right way or a wrong way, just as there isn't a wrong angle to approach a math problem, only a right angle!'" Kizashi laughed, bringing his palm down on the table in a fit of hysteria as his wife shook her head.

"I told you, Kizashi, honey, that story isn't that funny." She sighed.

Kizashi wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. "Then explain how I had the entire room in stitches!"

Mebuki ignored him and directed her attention to Sarada who was absent mindedly twirling spaghetti noodles around the tings of her fork. "Stop playing with your food, Sarada! There kids in other parts of the world who would be more than happy to have even a bite of your food and you're playing with it!"

"I'm not hungry." She muttered.

"But spaghetti and meatballs are your favorite! He even put extra tomatoes in the sauce, just how you like it!" Mebuki argued. "Though I'm not sure how he knew to do that."

"It's a force of habit." Itachi explained. "Sasuke insisted that I put extra tomatoes in the sauce when I cooked it for him when he was younger, and I still, to this day, continue to add them in whenever I make it." He said and immediately cursed himself when Sarada's head drooped at the mention of her deceased father.

"Give her a break, Mebuki, this is all very new for her." Kizashi explained. "Think about it; she's hundreds of miles away from the life she knew and she's surrounded by unfamiliar sights and people, not to mention that it's the beginning of the school year, and she can't afford to miss too many days or—"

He stopped in mid-sentence when Sarada hopped out of her chair and ran down the hallway.

"Sarada!" Itachi and Mebuki called out in unison.

"Oops. Did I say something I shouldn't have?" Kizashi asked.

"Of course not, dear; I would've rubbed this entire situation in her face too if I were you. Honestly, Kizashi! What were you thinking?! The child's been through enough already and you thought it was a good idea to make matters worse by saying all of those things!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't know! And you were yelling at her too, Mebuki! I was just trying to make things better!"

"Well obviously you didn't!" Mebuki groaned.

Under the cover of the Haruno's arguing, Itachi managed to slip away to search for Sarada. He didn't hear the tumblers in the lock rearranging, which meant that Sarada didn't leave the apartment, and he was sure that she ran down the hall, which left three places – her bedroom, the bathroom, and Itachi's bedroom.

"Sarada?" Itachi said and gently knocked on the door to his old study, which he had converted back into a bedroom when he decided to take guardianship of Sarada. "Are you in there?"

"Go away." Came a muffled voice from inside.

"Can I come in?"

"I said go away."

Just then, Mebuki rounded the corner. "Let me talk to her." She said, and pressed her ear against the door with her hand poised around the door knob. "Sarada, honey, it's grandma; can I come in?"

"No."

Mebuki frowned. "Sarada, honey, please. It's your last night with us, and you're going to lock yourself in your room for the rest of the evening?"

"So what? You're never coming back ever again? Great!" She shouted.

"That's not what I meant, sweetheart. I meant that it's the last night that you'll be seeing us in a while. We'll come visit you as often as we can, but it's expensive, honey."

"Why can't I just live with you guys then? It'd be a lot cheaper and it wouldn't suck as much."

"Let me talk to her for a minute." Kizashi said. "I know that things aren't looking so hot right now, but you don't have to be so cold about it, Sarada—ow! Mebuki! That hurt!" Kizashi cried and rubbed the tender spot on his shoulder where his wife hit him. "You know that I have shoulder problems!"

"Really, Kizashi? This is no time for word play! This is my last night with our granddaughter and you're pushing her away with your puns!" Mebuki spat. "Sarada, honey, listen to me; we're going back home on Monday, so this is one of your last chances to spend with us before we go back, do you understand?"

"Then take me with you if you're gonna miss me that much!"

Mebuki groaned and twisted the door knob. "Sarada, I'm coming in." She said, and invited herself inside.

The entire time, Itachi remained leaning against the wall opposite to Sarada's door and waited for Kizashi to invite himself in as well. "Aren't you going in too?" He asked him.

"If I go in there, I'll only end up upsetting her more. Both Sarada, and Mebuki!" He laughed. "How come you aren't going in there?"

Itachi blinked. "I don't think it's wise for me to force myself on her when she hasn't had enough time to get used to me yet. To her, I'm still a stranger."

Kizashi shrugged. "And here I thought you were just standing around because you found my wife to be entertaining!"

This time, it was Itachi's turn to shrug. He didn't find Mebuki's parenting style to be entertaining so much as incredibly forceful and intrusive. "She's a lot like Sasuke."

"Who? Mebuki?"

Itachi shook his head, causing his long fringes to shift slightly. "No, Sarada. I have a feeling that if you leave her alone for a few hours, she'll eventually calm down."

"You're probably right. I've tried to tell that to Mebuki over and over, but she never listens." His smile suddenly faded as a small shadow overcame his features. "While I absolutely adore Mebuki and love her to pieces, she can be a little over the top sometimes. I remember when Sakura was growing up, the two of them would fight like cats doused in boiling water, those two."

Interesting analogy, Itachi thought to himself, but didn't comment on it.

"There was a time when Sakura absolutely hated her mother. 'That's it! When I'm eighteen, I'm moving out and living on my own so I can get as far away from you two as possible!' I remember her saying a couple of months after she turned seventeen. And she stuck to that promise like glue, reminding us every couple of weeks what she was planning to do."

"But she didn't, did she?" Itachi asked.

Kizashi shook his head and laughed. "Goodness, no! I remember the day she turned eighteen, Mebuki was drinking a cup of coffee in the kitchen downstairs and said to her 'What are you still doing here? I thought you were moving out?' and Sakura confessed that she didn't have the money to support herself and without our help, she couldn't possibly afford to pay her way through college, much less med school!" He laughed.

Itachi smiled slightly when Mebuki stormed out from the room. "She doesn't want to talk to me, she wants, you, Kizashi." She steamed.

"My turn? If you say so!" He beamed and entered the room. "Hey, kumquat, you wanted to see me?"

"Kumquat?" Itachi asked.

"It's his nickname for her, don't ask me how he came up with it." Mebuki sighed and crossed her arms. "She's stubborn like her mother, that girl."

"If parenting was easy, then we wouldn't have gray hair at age forty." Itachi joked.

In the face of Mebuki's glare, he realized that he should've known better than to try to lighten the mood in the presence of this woman. "You're just as bad as Kizashi, joking in a time of crisis like this!"

"I hardly think this is a crisis." Itachi stated. "If you ask me, she acts a lot like Sasuke, and just needs a couple of hours alone and she'll be fine." He said. "In the meantime, would you like me to make you another cup of tea?"

"Is this your parenting philosophy? Leaving her alone for a few hours while she works everything out on her own and fills her head with crazy ideas?" She accused.

Itachi shook his head. "That's not what I meant when I said—"

"Is that what you're going to do every time she gets upset like this? Assume it'll pass and make yourself a cup of tea? What if she finds out that she's pregnant with her crush's baby?! Do you think something like that will just pass if you give it a few hours?!"

Itachi glanced around to see if there was any sign of Kizashi or Sarada leaving the room and lowered his voice so that only Mebuki could hear him. "I do not think this is the time, nor the place for such a conversation. I understand that Sakura's pregnancy wasn't what you wanted for her, or what she wanted for herself at the time, but she ended up giving birth to a smart, talented, and beautiful daughter, married a successful husband and loving father, and became a successful doctor and loving mother. Although it may not have been the perfect time to start a family, or what Sakura might have wanted, she was supported every step of the way by not only Sasuke, but you and Kizashi and turned out fine." Itachi said. "And if the same should ever happen to Sarada, I will not only give her the time she needs to process everything that is happening, but I will also be there for her when she needs me and is ready to talk about it – it could be within a day, a week, or a month. I'll be ready to talk about it whenever she's ready to talk about it, and maybe that's not the correct way to go about it; I don't know, I've never been a parent to anyone before, but I've got plenty of time to learn and make mistakes before that happens, and all I ask of you is to give me a chance to do it, and if I need your help, I will ask for it." He said. "So please, let me handle it."

Mebuki's eyebrows, which were arched in shock at Itachi's words, quickly furrowed. "You and you brother are definitely related, there's no doubt about it." She muttered.

Just then, Kizashi reappeared from Sarada's bedroom, dispelling the tension that had settled between Mebuki and Itachi in the time he was gone. "Mebuki?" He said, and gestured for her to follow him inside.

Unsure whether he was to follow behind, Itachi lingered at the doorway. Inside, Sarada was wiping at her eyes as Kizashi sat down on the bed to embrace her. "There, there, Sarada, sweetie, it's okay." He cooed.

"Oh, Sarada." Mebuki knelt over her granddaughter and moved to embrace her as well until the only the top of her head and her legs dangling over the side of the bed were visible.

"I don't want to stay here with him." Sarada sniffled. "I want to go home and stay with you guys."

Kizashi smiled sympathetically and pulled away from the embrace to meet her eyes. "Itachi's not a bad guy, Sarada. If you ever want to cry 'uncle,' he'll be there for you in a heartbeat."

Mebuki rolled her eyes at the pun. "We'd love to take you back home with us, but your mother and father wanted you to stay with your uncle instead." She explained. "And even though we're across the country, we're only a phone call away."

"That's right." Kizashi agreed. "Here's an idea; maybe you and your uncle can visit us over Thanksgiving! What do you think of that, Sarada?"

Sarada shook her head. "I don't wanna visit for a week. I don't wanna visit at all. I want to live with you." She said before her composure collapsed and the waterworks resumed.

"Oh, Sarada." Mebuki said, and pulled her into an even tighter embrace. "I know this is all very new and different to you, and I know that Itachi seems like a stranger, but he's family. He's your father's older brother."

"Yeah, Sarada; uncle Itachi can tell you all sorts of stories about what your father was like when he was a kid! Wouldn't that be fun to listen to!" Kizashi chuckled.

In the end, it took an additional fifteen minutes of convincing, and ten minutes worth of silent embraces before Sarada had composed herself enough to let Mebuki and Kizashi leave.

"Is she alright?" Itachi asked, standing up from his sitting position outside of her door. While he wanted to give them their privacy, this involved him too, and he wanted to know what to expect when they left.

"She'll be fine! She's a strong girl, just like her mother, right, Mebuki?" Kizashi asked.

"Yeah." Mebuki spoke, just barely above a whisper. "She is."

It was apparent that she herself was crying while she was in there as evidenced by her swollen eyes and flushed complexion. "Would you like a tissue, Mrs. Haruno?" Itachi asked, taking a step towards the bathroom to get a tissue.

But Mebuki held up a hand, effectively halting him from going any further. "No thank you. I just need to lie down, right now." She said. "Thanks for the dinner, and be sure to look after Sarada tonight."

Be sure to look after Sarada tonight. I wasn't a reminder. It was a warning.

"Thanks for the dinner, Itachi!" Kizashi said, and leaned in to give Itachi a hug. "Tell your friend—uh, what was his name again?"

"Kisame?"

"Tell Kisame it was nice meeting him, and take care! Of both yourself, and my granddaughter! She's the only one I've got, you know!"

Itachi smiled. "I will,"

Itachi showed them to the way out and held the door open as they exited the apartment when Mebuki muttered "I'll be calling tomorrow." She said and made eye contact with him to make sure he heard her correctly.

"I'll keep my phone nearby." He assured her and closed the door behind them once they disappeared into the elevator.

The door to Sarada's room was shut when he turned around. Kizashi closed it behind him, he remembered and slowly approached it. As he got closer, he could hear sounds of distress – Sarada's muffled crying.

"Sarada?" He asked, gently knocking on the door. "Are you okay in there?"

"Go away." She said in a trembling voice before sobbing again.

Sasuke rarely locked himself in his room to cry. If ever their father or mother upset him to the point of making him cry, he would run to Itachi and sob into his shirt before Itachi picked him up and asked what had happened. The only time he didn't do this was when it was Itachi who had been the one to upset him, in which case, he would seek the comfort of their mother. If she couldn't be found, he would hide under the covers of his blankets in his bedroom until Itachi found him and let himself inside to sooth his distraught sibling.

After the age of seven, however, the crying stopped and the silent brooding began.

But this was a year old girl. Not only that, but a ten year old girl who had recently lost both of her parents in a car accident and had been forced to uproot her life and everything that she knew to move across the country to live with a family member she couldn't member ever meeting before.

Itachi was at a loss. He couldn't take her into his arms like he had with Sasuke when he was younger and ask what upset him. She was too big for that and he knew what was upsetting her. This wasn't a denial of a new toy or watching endless hours of television. This was a combination of grief, loneliness, and a sense of abandonment.

At the same time, he couldn't let himself in as he himself was part of the problem. She wasn't comfortable enough with him yet to walk in on her during her lowest moments to cheer her up. If anything, it would drive home the reality of the situation for what it was. Her parents were deceased. Her grandparents were gone. She was in a foreign city, left in the custody of a foreign relative.

"Okay." Itachi settled on, and allowed his hand to drop to his side. "If you want to talk, I'll listen. My door is always open. Feel free to let yourself in." He said. Was there anything else he should say while he was there? "No matter how late it is; I'll always be here for you, Sarada."

As expected, he didn't receive a response, and set off to clean up from dinner. He had placed the dinnerware in the dishwasher and put away the sauce and the noodles when his phone vibrated from within his pocket.

It's probably Mebuki, Itachi assumed, but realized upon glancing at the locked screen that it was a text message from Kisame.

'Are they still there?' Kisame's text read.

'No' Itachi texted back. 'They left almost 10 minutes ago.'

'How'd everything go?'

Itachi shrugged and typed 'Not quite a success, but not a complete disaster either.'

'That's good. How's the kid?'

Itachi rolled his eyes. Was Kisame ever going to attempt to learn Sarada's name? 'Sarada's doing as well as can be expected.'

'Meaning…?'

'She's crying in her bedroom right now. I don't blame her. It's a lot to process and I'm giving her space until she is ready to talk about it.' He answered.

It was a few minutes before Kisame responded back. 'Did I ever tell you you'll make an amazing parent?'

'Guardian' Itachi corrected.

'Whatever you say'

Itachi smiled and glanced at the droplets of tomato sauce adorning the stovetop when he removed the lid earlier. I should probably clean that. He thought, fetched a bottle of disinfectant wipes from where he kept them in the bathroom. He knew that Mebuki and Kizashi were gone and wasn't expecting them to return again anytime soon, but found himself to be in a cleaning mood since early this morning and figured why not? A little cleaning never hurt anyone.

By 8:20, the kitchen was cleaned, the leftovers put away, and Sarada still hadn't left her room. Although Itachi wanted to give her the space she needed, he still worried about her well-being and stood outside her bedroom door, listening for any sounds or movement. He didn't hear any, which was both a good thing and a not so good thing. On one hand, at least she had stopped crying. Perhaps she had even cried herself to sleep, which was a sad thought, but Itachi hoped that she would wake up in better spirits tomorrow. On the other hand, if Sarada wasn't asleep, what was she doing in there? Absently staring at the ceiling? Silently brooding? Writing the letter she would leave on the bed before she snuck out of the apartment to catch the next cross-country bus back home?

Itachi shook his head. She wouldn't do that. Sarada was a smart girl. She understood the reality of the situation. Where would she go if she ran away? She couldn't go back to her childhood home, and where would she get the money to catch a cross-country bus back to her grand-parents' house?

She might not have had the money to catch a bus traveling across the country, but she could possess the necessary funds to catch a cab and travel back to her grandparents' hotel. If she did that, either Kizashi or Mebuki would call him, letting him know that they'll drop her off again in the morning.

He could hear Mebuki's voice now as it came over the line. "I cannot believe you were so irresponsible that you would allow a ten year old girl to sneak out of your apartment and wonder about the city!"

The thought was an unpleasant one and something Itachi rather not think about. How would he prevent a ten year old from sneaking out when he wasn't looking? Or when he was asleep? He could stay up late for the night, but eventually he would have to sleep. And what would stop her from leaving when he finally succumbed to fatigue?

Itachi sighed and retreated to his bedroom to get his laptop. While there wasn't much he could do to prevent Sarada from sneaking out under the cover of night, he could spend the rest of the evening catching up on some work in the kitchen, which would allow him to hear Sarada leaving her room – if, she ever left her room.

At 11:32pm, after completing three hours of work, Itachi decided to call it quits and retire for the night. Upon switching off the kitchen and living room lights, he was surprised to discover a golden sliver of light escaping from beneath the door to Sarada's room.

"Sarada?" Itachi asked from outside her door. "Are you okay, in there?" He asked. When he received no response, he tentatively took the door knob into his hand and let himself in.

Red rimmed glasses were placed on the bedside table as Sarada quietly slept atop the plush comforter of the bed. It was apparently all the energy she could muster, as she was still clad in her street clothes from earlier Itachi noted and flicked the lights off before gently shutting the door behind him.

While today could've gone a lot better than it had, it could've been a lot worse as well. Tomorrow is the start of another day…

[A/N]: So after writing the last chapter, my interest in this story was renewed! (Or should I say I was fearful that one of you would burn down my house if I didn't at least update Itachi's dinner with Mebuki and Kizashi! lol) Don't expect such a speedy update the next time, as I've said over and over again, I haven't the slightest idea where I'm going with this story and need time to plan (that, and I'm working on at least 3 other stories at the moment...so...yeah!)

****To the guest who reviewed chapter 3 on August 2nd: Thank you for the review! It made me smile and laugh! (Let's face it, Kizashi knows what he's talking about *playful elbow jab*)

Until next time~

Sasori33-001