one_long_mission | {open} It was a beautiful morning.

Minoru, of course, was too busy grinning about finally getting the last word in what he decided was a winning argument.

"Minoru. Get down, we're almost there." Itachi repeated, louder and sterner.

That shook the boy to his senses a little. He pouted, and then jumped off the fence.

Shaking his head, the man put the son he was carrying down as they finally reached his mother's house, letting out a soft breath as Isamu promptly moved to between his parents. "Alright, time to settle down, we're here."

Itachi was nervous, but his mind had settled somewhat when they got inside. Sasuke sounded optimistic. And that made him feel more at ease.

"So... It's finally time to take the bandages off?"

"Just take a deep breath and relax Niisan, time for you to see. Now, it'll be pretty bright at first."

He decided it was best to sit down.

"Isamu, Minoru, come over here." He waved them toward him. "If this works, I want you two to be the first thing I get to see."

Isamu perked up at that and moved to plant himself right in front of his mother.

Minoru perked up at that too. And he practicaly climbed on top of his brother to get there.

Isamu went tense and promptly shrugged his brother to the floor before looking expectantly at his uncle for him to start unwrapping his mom's eyes. Which he finally did!

Minoru huffed, and was about to push Isamu back the other way when Itachi interrupted.

"Sit still, boys. I don't want to see a big blur. You've been blurry to me your entire life."

At that, even Minoru quieted down and sat patiently.

Once the boys were settled, he started to unwrap, noting that his Aniki went to join the children. Good. He should be part of the moment too.

The last of the dressings fell off his face, and Itachi drew a big, deep breath.

"All right... Here we go..."

He opened his eyes slowly. The first thing he saw was brightness - intense brightness - and he promptly brought his hand up over his eyes. But slowly, that started to recede. He moved his hand, still squinting, until he became more accustomed to the light.

He blinked. He blinked again.

He didn't turn his sharingan on.

And he stared, jaw dropped, at the faces of his partner and children.

Isamu stared up at him, solemn and serious as he waited, hands clutched in front of him as he stared at his mother, holding his breath.

A tear slid down his cheek.

"... I can see you." he grinned. "I can actually see you!!"

And he slid right out of the chair, arms open wide for a giant hug.

"I can see all of you! It... it worked!! It really worked!"

Isamu was closest and thus first, but his brother was practically on top of him as he lunged, pressing his face against his mom. His mom was crying and that was no good, but it meant he was happy this time, right?

He couldn't help himself. It had probably been about a decade since he'd been able to see clearly, and it had only gotten worse from there. But now, he could see everything! And he hadn't even activated his sharingan! The situation was so overwhelming, he couldn't help but cry.

Here they were...

His partner really did look exactly like himself, or at least, how he imagined he still looked. He looked young. He looked gentle.

"You're the most beautiful boys in the world..."

It was the first time he'd really seen them, after all. Neither of them had Itachi's face, with its stern lines. But outside of that, Isamu was a spitting image of his parents. Just smaller. And smaller than his twin brother, something Itachi hadn't really noticed as much before. Minoru, on the other hand, looked so strong for his age.

"I can see you... I can actually see you..."

"Love you mommy." Isamu smiled brightly up at him.

Itachi finally padded over and brushed a gentle kiss over his partner's cheek. "See? All better."

"This means we're not going to get away with as much, huh..." Minoru pouted a little, but didn't mean anything malicious by it.

"And just what do you get away with now, hm?" Itachi countered as he poked both boys in the forehead before giving them a kiss. He glanced back up at his partner. "Is his hair always this messy?"

"No, usually it's much messier, actually." His tone was colored by amusement. "Easiest way to tell them apart."

"And here I was used to telling them apart by chakra." He laughed a little, tears still sticking in his eyes. "This is incredible."

So much so, in fact, he almost forgot about activating his sharingan!

He leaned to hug him too. "I'm glad."

"I'm just so glad it worked..." He smiled. And then he remembered... but he was a little hesitant about activating his eyes. "You got eternal mangekyo, right? It... Worked that way too?"

He nodded and leaned back. "It did, yes."

"Then the eyesight... It's permanent! It's really going to last forever!" He hugged all three of them again, and activated his most advanced sharingan.

(Hopefully, doing that in front of the kids wasn't a bad idea. It was one of the parts of growing up Uchiha that he tended to gloss over. But they were too smart to not know. They had to know, or at least have a good idea of what sharingan were.)

He saw the chakra patterns he was so accustomed to, on top of clear vision. It really was a fantastic thing.

He prodded at his partner, then smiled. "I see you're excited."

"You never did have much of a problem seeing things." He smirked.

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