Uchiha Satoru and Uchiha Fugaku spent quite a while shut away in the study.
Outside the door, Sasuke had been waiting so long he was beside himself.
Why hasn't my second brother dragged himself out yet?
Did Dad really beat him so badly he can't get out of bed?
Weird. There isn't a sound coming from inside.
While Sasuke was letting his imagination run wild, the study door finally slid open.
"Oh!
"Well, if it isn't our Sasuke!
"Hiding outside the door to eavesdrop?"
The grin on Uchiha Satoru's face was positively dazzling. He showed no sign of having been scolded.
"Who's eavesdropping?!
"I-I wasn't doing anything like that."
Sasuke stumbled over his words.
"Oh, you really weren't listening?
"Well, this study's sealed tight with a barrier anyway. You couldn't hear a thing even if you wanted to."
Uchiha Satoru teased him.
"What were you and Dad whispering about in there?"
Sasuke felt ready to burst with questions.
How did this guy walk out without so much as a hair out of place?
And Dad's face had looked relaxed, with a hint of approval mixed in. Sasuke had never seen that expression before.
He remembered the look on Dad's face when his second brother opened the study door all too clearly.
Approval?
Approval for skipping class?
That made no sense whatsoever!
Sasuke's young face was taut, his head full of questions.
Watching Uchiha Satoru and Sasuke walk away, Uchiha Fugaku pushed open the window and let out a long breath.
The admiration in his eyes simply refused to fade.
In this child, he seemed to glimpse the wisdom Uchiha Izuna had possessed, along with the breadth of spirit found only in Hashirama Senju, the God of the Shinobi World.
Perhaps this child was the Uchiha Clan's last hope and its only way out of its current predicament.
As for that other name, Fugaku stopped himself from thinking any further.
That was someone who would bring bloodshed right to their doorstep.
"Where are we going?"
Sasuke looked at Uchiha Satoru in bewilderment.
He had planned to go back and keep practicing with shuriken and ninjutsu.
Instead, his second brother had grabbed his arm and dragged him straight out of the clan compound.
"I'm taking you to lie in wait for an Itachi.
"You in?"
His six eyes had already told Uchiha Satoru that Itachi had turned in his mission and was on his way back. His face bloomed with a smile.
"Lie in wait for Itachi?"
Sasuke repeated the words blankly.
"Yep. We'll sneak over, hide, and wait patiently. Guaranteed to catch ourselves a lively little Itachi, alive and kicking.
"Sounds exciting, right?"
Uchiha Satoru grinned brightly, spouting nonsense the moment he opened his mouth.
"Uh."
That lousy mouth of yours, honestly.
Sasuke grumbled inwardly. His unreliable second brother was giving him a pounding headache.
He's my own brother. No matter how awful he is, I'm stuck with him.
Uchiha Satoru led Sasuke along their Itachi-ambush route. As they walked, he realized something was wrong: they had picked up a tail.
His six eyes could distinguish everyone around him perfectly, but with so many people milling about earlier, he hadn't noticed someone secretly watching him.
Only after they turned onto the road to the right did he notice that person was still sticking close behind.
The person following them was actually Kakashi.
Weird. Why's he following me?
Could it be because I went up to Naruto this morning?
Uchiha Satoru immediately grasped what was going on.
Knowing the Third's temperament, he had never eased his surveillance of Naruto. Guilt played a part, but calculation played an even greater one.
The moment an Uchiha dared approach Naruto, the jinchūriki, he had gone on high alert.
That was why he had sent Kakashi to watch him in secret.
Uchiha Satoru had no intention of exposing him.
Since it was Kakashi, there was no doubt the orders came from the Third.
He neither liked nor disliked that old man.
He simply thought the man was too wishy-washy, lacking the ruthlessness and broad-mindedness a leader needed.
Shimura Danzō was the clearest slap in his face.
A man like that shouldn't have occupied that position.
"Come on, my hopelessly stupid little brother."
Uchiha Satoru brought Sasuke to the side of the Hokage Building.
After turning in his mission, Uchiha Itachi would have to pass this way.
The two brothers only needed to hide there and wait.
Meanwhile, a short distance away, Kakashi crouched in the shadows on his assigned watch, equally baffled.
What are these two kids ambushing beside the Hokage Building?
Elsewhere in the scene.
"You lousy brother, don't go copying our big brother!"
Sasuke's voice suddenly rose.
"Oh, so Itachi gets to call you that?
"Is that what you're saying, Sasuke?"
Uchiha Satoru's words always hit people right where it hurt.
"That's not what I meant at all!
"Itachi isn't nasty like you!"
Sasuke's face flushed red with anger.
"Sasuke, you just called him Itachi too.
"When he finds out, the look on his face will be enough to keep fifteen people entertained for half a month.
"Tsk, just thinking about it makes me itch to see it."
Uchiha Satoru rubbed his chin, laughing so hard his shoulders shook.
"You!"
Before Sasuke could finish spitting out his angry retort, the words lodged in his throat.
His gaze snapped to Uchiha Satoru, and there was actually a trace of sympathy in it.
"You'd better pray for yourself, big brother."
Before you continue