When Itachi pushed open the front door, the incense they had agreed to use as a timer had just burned down to its end.
Sasuke sat on the veranda with a basic ninja tool illustrated guide open on his knees.
He had not taken in a single word.
At the sound of the door, Sasuke first looked up to make sure there was no blood on his brother, then glanced at Itachi's empty hands.
"Did you finish the mission?"
Itachi took off his shoes and placed his mission mask in a sealing bag.
"Not all of it."
Sasuke froze.
In the past, the answers Itachi brought home had always been short.
Completed.
Passed.
No problems.
It was as though, whenever his brother went out, everything was certain to turn out right.
This time, Itachi had returned as promised, yet said himself that the mission was unfinished.
"Did you fail?"
"Part of it failed."
Itachi did not end the conversation by saying it was classified.
He could only explain the parts that did not involve the sealed information.
Of the three old transport nodes, he had verified one; the other two remained unchecked because the mission had been suspended.
He had found the authentic catalog related to the Well Zone, initiated an external review, and kept the original files from being moved.
He had failed to make the complete nonmilitary material public within the three-day deadline.
Those facts could not be summed up as a victory, nor could they be called a total failure.
Sasuke frowned. "Then will they punish you?"
"The mission evaluation isn't finished yet."
"Aren't you worried?"
"I am."
Itachi sat down beside him.
"Being worried doesn't mean I can say I finished something I didn't."
Hearing their conversation from the kitchen, Mikoto brought the meal she had